Elena
by Oldest Man
Summary: Re-posted to a challenge and the challenger never bothered to read. Castle and OFC and some Caskett.  Katers will read while others will ignore it.  Sheeple love the constant belittling of Castle as a male figure surrounded by strong females. meh.
1. Chapter 1

I love a challenge and I don't mind honest criticism of the writing but abhor those with minds are so set in stone that they refuse to expand their worldview by opening up their minds to new possibilities. Those people are sheep and generally too stupid to think for themselves. So if you fit this definition, go read some fluffy K stuff. This is definitely not your story.

This is OFC (Other Female Character) but I haven't finished it yet so who knows where it will end up. One thing for sure NO SLASH!

OM

_My Name is Elena _by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 1<p>

_This is the way the world ends  
><em>_This is the way the world ends  
><em>_This is the way the world ends  
><em>_Not with a bang but a whimper._

~ T.S. Eliot 1925

The NEST team had transferred the bomb to a waiting trailer pulled by a large tractor. The unmarked trailer and its cargo would meld in with traffic and be someplace secure within a few hours.

It was finally over and everyone was going home with or to a loved one.

"Castle, I'll have one of my men give you a lift home. You did a good thing here tonight, Rick. You and Beckett – you're quite the team. Where'd she run off to? I expected you two to be inseparable after this."

"She left with her boyfriend after we debriefed. Yeah, I could use a ride home. I'm going to pack up and leave the city and reconnect with my girls. It's been a long week and the last few days – well, I don't have to tell you."

"A boyfriend? I thought you two were together. Hell, you should be. A blind man could see that." Fallon shut up abruptly when he saw the look in Castle's eyes. Apparently one person _was_ blind – Detective Beckett.

"No. We're just work colleagues, friends, nothing else. If you're done here can I get that ride now?" Fallon just nodded not wanting to dig deeper into an already gaping wound.

* * *

><p>Castle's Loft<p>

The loft was silent and empty and somehow that fit his needs. He was so tired that the just stripped off his clothes and crawled into the shower and set the water temperature as hot as he could stand it and just let the warmth permeate his bones. He still could feel the chill from the freezer but at least now it was manageable.

He toweled off and pulled on clean boxers and a sweatshirt and buried himself under as many blankets as he could find and finally slept.

He slept until early afternoon and only awoke to the insistent trilling of his cell phone. He looked at the caller information and hit 'ignore' and then got up and took another long hot shower.

Castle knew that he was done kicking the proverbial dead horse. Some things were just not meant to be. It was Fate. His Fate. It was time to accept it and move on.

He threw casual clothes into a carryall and grabbed his laptop and headed out for The Hamptons and the only women he knew he could trust implicitly.

* * *

><p>Beckett's apartment<p>

Kate disconnected the call to Castle without leaving a voicemail. He wasn't responding to her text messages and now he was avoiding her calls. She shouldn't have walked away with Josh without at least making sure he had a ride. After all, they were partners.

She wondered if he was home, buried under every blanket he owned, just as she had been. Was he as lonely as she'd been? Why hadn't he responded to her texts and why wasn't he answering his phone?

Making up her mind, she threw on casual clothes and grabbed her car keys from the table and left for Castle's loft. If he was okay, she'd leave. If not, she'd stay until he was, no matter what it took.

* * *

><p>Castle's Apartment Building<br>Security Desk

The man at the desk stopped her before she could get on the elevator.

"Ms. Beckett, the Castle family is not in residence. Mr. Castle left earlier for his house in The Hamptons and has requested that his mail be forwarded to him there until further notice."

"Oh, okay. Thank you. I'll call him there."

She left, frustrated and curious. Why hadn't he answered her text? Why wasn't he answering her calls? Why, why, why?

Traffic was unusually light and his foot unusually heavy and he pushed his antique 1952 MGB-TD to greater speeds unconsciously fleeing the city and it's constraints.

In times past he might have termed his abrupt departure as a strategic withdrawal, a planned fallback to a strong point from which to launch his next assault, but not now.

He was disengaging, severing ties, and removing himself from the source of his pain. His withdrawal was neither tactical nor strategic. He was running - flat out – for cover. There would be no final assault, no last stand. He was done with her. He'd pissed away 3 years of his life - not one more moment would he devote to her.

The farther he got from the city he loved, the easier it was to breathe and the warmer he felt. He pulled onto the verge and folded back the top and brought out his custom-made tonneau cover from the boot and buttoned it into place and then roared back onto the LIE to make his connection with the coast road and The Hamptons. He cranked up the CD player and let the Bose system take him away to happier times.

* * *

><p>Castle's Summer Home<br>The Hamptons

Alexis had called her father several times with no answer. After several rings the call was transferred to voice mail and that meant his cell was on but he just couldn't or wouldn't answer. There was no answer on the house phone either so she'd resorted to subterfuge and called the security desk at the building but had been told that he'd left mid-afternoon with a bag and said to forward the mail to 'the Summer House' until further notice. He also mentioned that Detective Beckett had been by to see him but he'd already left.

"Grams! Dad's on his way up here. He forwarded the mail so he must be planning on staying a while. He isn't answering his cell phone but the security guy at the building said he left this afternoon and had a bag."

"Good. Maybe your father can shed some light on why we were dragged out of our home in the dead of night and sent out here to the beach when I had plans."

"Grams, you're not on stage here and your 'plans' consisted of a few life counseling sessions that probably weren't going have all that big an impact on anyone's life. I mean c'mon, Grams, it's not like anyone really pays any mind to that New Age bilge, do they?"

"The younger generation has no respect anymore. I'll have you know that…"

Alexis, not wanting to hear more New Age prattle, smiled, kissed her grandmother on the cheek and took off for her room. At least there she could escape all the drama spewing from the Queen herself.

"No, respect. I get no respect at all. Oh, Rodney, you were so right."

* * *

><p>Castle's drive<p>

The towns fly by on Route 27. Southampton, Water Mill, Bridgehampton, East Hampton and Amagansett. He's well into Hither Hills State Park when he realizes where he is. Stunned that he's driven so far past his exit and shook up that he hadn't even been aware of it, he motored down to a respectable 45mph and listened once again to the sounds of Maynard Ferguson at the Newport Jazz Festival so many decades ago. Even now he got goose bumps listening to the man and his band.

He saw a sign indicating that he was entering the city limits of Montauk and he grinned. _'All these years coming to the Island and I've never seen the Light'. _

The author in him laughed at his delightful play on words. He meant the Montauk Light and his subconscious had meant 'the light' of his decision to quit the 12th and allow the Shadow to disappear in the light. He chuckled at his own cornball wit.

He drove slowly into Montauk proper, the Eastern-most town on the Island. Famous for a lot of things, it was most famous for being the site of the Montauk Light, now surrounded by Montauk State Park. He was suddenly ravenously hungry and decided to spend the remainder of the day finding something to eat and then going out to the Light. If it wasn't too late or he wasn't too damned tired, he would drive back to The Hampton house and surprise the girls.

He found a classic diner near the edge of town across from a Motel 6. He pulled in and walked inside, enjoying the sense of being in a place that hadn't changed in decades. A family was just leaving, their two young boys holding their deserts – two large ice cream cones – when the older boy jostled the arm of the younger and his scoops of ice cream fell off the cone and onto the floor.

The look on the boy's face was classic: anger and grief all mixed up. Castle chuckled at how the boy clenched his fist and lashed out, popping his older brother in the arm, ignoring the sudden crying of 'Mom, Jimmy hit me!" and watching as a slender dark haired waitress came over, bent down and cleaned up the mess and then led the younger boy behind the counter.

"Here. I will make you another cone. Don't be sad. And don't hit your brother like that again, hear me?" The boy just nodded and the woman, certainly no teenager, made him another cone and then sent him on his way. Castle watched her reach into her apron and take out some bills, her tip money, and then ring up the sale on the cash register, paying for the replacement herself.

It seemed so out of place, so unusual an act compared to what he'd been exposed to lately. It was an altruistic act of kindness that he felt _must_ be rewarded.

He sat at the counter and ordered coffee and a burger and watched the young woman as she placed the order through a window and then brought him his coffee.

"That was nice."

"What was? I don't understand. It is just coffee."

"No, I meant what you did for the boy. That was a nice thing to do."

"It was nothing. And he did say 'thank you'."

"Still, it was a nice thing you did. And with your own money, too. A very nice thing."

She blushed and turned away, busying herself with cleaning the counter and bussing tables. Castle looked around at the now empty diner. Apparently he'd just missed the busy time.

The cook slapped a bell and said something and the waitress hurried over and took the plate with Castle's hamburger over to him and asked if there was anything else she could get for him?

"A refill on the coffee would be appreciated." His glance took in her classic facial structure of high cheekbones, wide-set eyes so green they were startling, a generous mouth with full lips. There was evidence of invasion in her eyes – slightly almond shaped, something left in her gene pool from the Tartar invasions perhaps. The only flaw he could see was a circular scar on her right wrist that seemed so out of place on an otherwise perfect woman.

The things only a writer noticed…

When he finished his meal and coffee, he left a tip under the plate with a note attached and then paid her at the register. He looked at her and smiled. It felt like he hadn't smiled in ages and she returned his smile and blushed and returned to her work.

Castle was tired. Exhausted and cold. He drove across the highway to the Motel 6 and got a room and then saw that the lights of the town were coming on and one in particular caught his eye – Montauk Liquors.

He dumped his bag in the room and then walked up the street to the liquor store. He bought a fifth of cheap Scotch and returned to his room and proceeded to get snockered, shit-faced, roaring drunk – all prompted by a text from Beckett asking if he was OK. He read it, deleted it and opened the bottle and poured a large water glass full of the potent liquor. Three years was long enough to figure out she's just not that into him.

* * *

><p>The young woman was thrilled with the money but upset that someone saw her at her most vulnerable. She keeps the note wondering if someday she'll be able to thank this mysterious 'Rick Castle' for his generosity.<p>

Her boss, another Russian émigré, sees the size of the tip and the note and thinks his newest employee might just be a prostitute or something and he confronts her with his suspicions, demanding to see the note. He doesn't want any problems with the police.

"Katya, I do not permit employees to – " and stops as he reads the note from the man.

"I am sorry. I leaped to a conclusion and I am ashamed. This man, he is a writer of books and very rich. Most people, they don't _see_ people like us. Maybe this guy is different. He lives part-time in The Hamptons. Perhaps you will see him again. But do as he says, do something nice for yourself."

"I want nothing to do with this man. Perhaps he is kind but then I have seen his kind before – they only want people like us, Leonid, for what use we can be and then they discard us. No. I will use the money but I want nothing to do with the man."

After her shift ends and she is walking back to the small efficiency apartment she shares with two other girls she cannot help but think of him, his ready smile, his understanding, and she decides she will thank him if she sees him again. She will thank him. _If _she ever sees him again.

* * *

><p>The next morning Rick woke up hung over and walked across the highway to the diner for coffee. He looked around but didn't see the young woman he tipped so heavily and sighed but decided 'it's for the best'. He doesn't want her gratitude and he doesn't want another woman in his life screwing it up. Beckett had her 'one and done' and he'd had 'two and done' – meaning no more women except for his nutball mother and his adorable and ever surprising daughter who had raised him despite his best efforts to stay a kid forever. Beckett would be pleased that he's finally, finally, seen the light.<p>

The cook, who also owns the diner, walked from behind the counter and places a large breakfast platter in front of Castle

"Breakfast is on the house. That was a wonderful thing you did for Katya. Too few people reward such acts of kindness. And she needs the money. She is new and trying to find her place in this country. She is a hard worker and saves her pay."

Castle makes up an excuse for his generosity and the cook just looks at him and smirks.

"Quit trying to be someone you are not. Eat your breakfast and perhaps Katya will be in shortly. Please do not embarrass her. But do not think that she is a party girl. Katya is not like that. Besides, I give her enough trouble as it is." He said this with a twinkle in his eye. He obviously took his 'father figure' role seriously.

Castle's cell trilled Alexis' ring tone and he smiled. "Gotta take this call from my special lady." He started to get up and noted the scowl on the face of the man who'd introduced himself as 'Leonid'.

"It's my daughter. She and my mother are at the house and I've been busy and she's probably wondering where the hell I am. Thank you for breakfast but I have to go. Katya is lucky to work for someone who doesn't take advantage of her. Maybe I'll drop by the next time I'm up this way."

Rick starts talking to Alexis and immediately feels guilty for his drunken night. His daughter had expected him and she was worried.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later Katya comes in, late because she was shopping. The cook tells her 'you just missed your Mr. Castle' and she sighs and smiles ruefully. Of all the mornings to be late, she had to pick this one.<p>

She mutters something to herself and then goes into the back room to change into her work uniform, Castle forgotten. Her concerns center on earning her keep, learning to speak English with more proficiency and establishing a new identity.

Still, he had a wonderful smile and a good heart. And he did say he would stop by the next time he was in town. To bad she wouldn't be there.

Katya Karpov had outlived her usefulness. It was time to go back to her superiors' original plan but use what information she'd learned to further her agenda. She would email her support and ask for a dossier on Richard Castle.

One never knew who might turn out to be useful.

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 2

_**After thirty-nine years this is all I've done. **_~**Dylan Thomas**

I cannot cite a source but I have heard this said in many ways but it's still true.

_A man is beating his head against a brick wall over and over again. Blood runs down his face but he ignores it and continues to pound his head against the wall. A friend asks him 'why are you beating your head against a brick wall?'_

'_Because it feels so damned good when I stop.'_

In my tale, Castle has stopped. So why doesn't it feel good?

* * *

><p>The Hamptons<p>

Castle pulled his little MG into the carriage house garage and shuts down the motor. He promised himself he'd spend time rebuilding the Zenith vacuum carburetor that seemed to stick at high speeds causing the engine to miss. The plenum gasket on the down-draft carburetor was probably leaking again. He hated Lucas electrical systems and Zenith carburetors more than anything else in the automotive world.

He took his bag out of the boot and walked in through the service entrance calling out "I'm home!" and waiting in the kitchen for his women to appear and pay homage to him. He snickered knowing that neither of them would appreciate such a thought. Certainly not his mother, the Diva of the black and white TV era.

"Dad! Where the heck have you been? Beckett's been trying to reach you and you won't return her texts or voicemails. Are you hungry? You look like hell, Pops." His daughter, the fruit of his loins and the only really good thing to ever happen to him, stood with her arms crossed under her (_when the hell did she get boobs?_) and was tapping her foot impatiently.

"I'll tell you and your grandmother the entire sordid tale but first I need something."

"What? Food, booze, the bathroom? You don't call, you don't email me, you don't text me – "

"I just need a hug, Pumpkin, that's all. And then, when the Queen of Late Night Horror Movie Festivals appears from her coffin at dusk, I'll bring you both up to speed. I am sorry for not calling you back but – I just had to sort some things out, that's all."

He pressed a kiss into her hair and decided that just maybe being hugged by his little girl was one of the Top Ten things about his life. Okay, not so little any more but still his little girl just as she'd always be.

"Okay. Grams' in the bathroom. She has a dinner date with some old guy she met at an art exhibit. I think he just wants someone around to cut his meat for him. He rides around in one of those motorized chair thingies and he's really _old. _I can't believe she's that bored or desperate."

"Alexis, one of these days you'll be old and gray and visiting the hair salon for touch-ups so that your henna hair still looks at 55 like it does at 17. When that day arrives – you'll remember this conversation and feel really, really bad."

Alexis snorts and walks away. The last thing he hears is 'WHAT – ever!' as she walks to the staircase and calls up to her grandmother that 'Dad's here, Grams, and he wants to talk with us right now!'

Castle smiles at his daughter's subtlety and finds a cold beer in the fridge and sits down at the kitchen island and guzzles it down.

"Richard, at last! Where have you been? Your detective friend has been calling and calling and I have no idea what to tell the poor dear. She seems beside herself with worry, Richard."

"Mother, Alexis, sit down and be quiet for just a few minutes and I'll explain everything as best I can. There are some things I can't discuss because they'll come and take Alexis away if I do – "

"What! Daddy, just what are you involved in? You didn't sign any papers without the lawyer checking them out first, didya?" She had no idea what her father was up to but had a bad feeling about it. She trusted Beckett to keep him safe and out of trouble but something told her Beckett was just as confused as she was where her father was concerned.

He told them the truth, almost all of it. Of course he left out the details about almost dying (twice) and then he dropped the big bombshell.

"Girls, I'm not going back to the 12th. I've come too close too many times and I don't make enough money to hang it out there like those folks do day after day, week after week. I'm done. I have enough research notes compiled to write Heat novels until I'm old and gray but I have to be alive to do it."

"Oh, Richard, darling, I think there's a lot you're not telling us and I'm sure you have your reasons but what about Detective Beckett and your – "

"There is nothing there, Mother. You and Alexis can return to the city tomorrow but I'm staying here for a bit. I have a book to write and I'm afraid if I don't get this down on paper I'll lose the words. Now, if you have nothing else to ask, I'll be in my study. I have to get this down before it's gone. I have to."

"Dad, what about Kate? You two – "

"She has a boyfriend, a doctor that she's been seeing since the summer. It's pretty serious and considering all that's happened in the past two weeks, it's very serious. That's all I'm going to say on the matter. I'll be in my study – "

"Dad, that's a load of crap. You and Beckett – you've got something special and I can't believe you're just walking away from it without a fight. That's not how I expected you to behave. I expected you to fight for her. You know I'm right, Dad. Please don't give up on her."

"Alexis, this is my final word on it. No more. I'm done with it. I'm done with her. I did everything I could and it just wasn't enough. Like that chick flick you raved on about – she's just not that into me."

"Dad – " Alexis was practically in tears. She could see how he felt and she could see how Kate felt. They just couldn't see it themselves.

"Alexis, please show me some respect and abide by my wishes. She's happy so I'm happy."

"Oh, Richard…" Martha knew her son but was smart enough to know which battles to fight and this wasn't one of them.

"Mother…" He was getting mad and for all the wrong reasons and at the wrong people.

"Fine. You're a grown man and I respect your decision. Alexis, when you're older, you'll understand. You father has made up his mind and he's setting off in a new direction, isn't that right, dear?" She looked over at Castle with a knowing look on her face.

"But Dad – "

Castle did something he rarely did. He walked away from his daughter and mother and went into his study and closed and locked the door.

"Grams, he's not serious. Is he?" A statement and a question.

"I'm afraid the good ship Kate has run aground. Your father has the same look on his face that he had when he told me your mother wanted a divorce and had been seeing another man. Yes. He's serious. Now, go pack and we'll leave first thing in the morning."

* * *

><p>Three days later<p>

Castle is generating page after page of really first class stuff even though he's being constantly interrupted by his cell phone with calls that go to voice mail or texts or email notifications from Beckett or the guys and finally Lanie demanding that he contact them and explain why he's 'missing in action' and Lanie even texts him that 'Kate is really worried about you'.

He laughs and walks out into the winter cold and down to the surf line. He laughs again, perhaps with a taint of bitterness, and then tosses his cell phone far out into the surf.

'That was a dumb thing to do, Castle. Now how are you going to contact Alexis or Mother? Stupid is as stupid does. Idiot!'

He drives into town, buys a new phone, and texts all the people he wants to have the new number. Alexis calls him to ask 'why' and he says he needs a clean break from the 12th. Even at 17, Alexis hears the unspoken 'and from her'.

Two weeks later he's finished his novel and emailed it to an astonished but thrilled Gina Cowan for editing and then sits and sulks and drinks. He's been doing that a lot lately. Drinking. He toys with the idea of driving up to Montauk and asking that lovely woman Katya to dinner but he can't really motivate himself to bother.

Gina calls back about some minor corrections and seems subdued.

"What's the matter, Gina? Not pleased with the book? I think it wraps things up nicely. Or are you upset that you missed your opportunity to tear my throat out for not meeting another of your brutal and unrealistic deadlines?"

"Ricky, the book is wonderful, probably one of your best and certainly the most emotionally powerful one…"

Her voice trails off and then after a pause of a second or two, she almost whispers, "Rick, you always wear your heart on your sleeve where everyone can see it. One or two of us have torn chunks out of it. I know what you aren't saying so don't bother denying it. Give yourself some time to heal but don't give up on finding someone to share your life with. You're a wonderful man and someone is out there just waiting for you and she's the right one."

"How will I know, Gina? I have two ex-wives and I thought each of you was the right one."

"Because, Rick, when she tears your heart out, she'll give you her own in its stead."

Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. Castle is stunned by Gina's comments and she's quiet as she fights back tears. She'll always love Rick but they are like fire and gasoline and can't coexist.

Gina clears her throat and continues on in a business-like fashion. "Now, about the book tour and publication dates…and Ricky, you CANNOT use that dedication. It's laden with double entendres even though it does seem appropriate given the situation you described in your email."

Alexis calls him and tells him that Kate has called several times but that she's keeping her word and just telling her that he's busy with the novel and he's off somewhere gathering 'material references'.

Again they argue but he finally just tells Alexis that "there was nothing going to happen between me and Beckett – it was just wishful thinking on my part that got out of hand, that's all. I saw things that meant one thing to me but another to her. I let it get out of hand. It's over and done with. She has a boyfriend close to her own age and I was just her 'side kick' at best, a pain in the ass at worst."

Thinking about the whole 'shadow thing', he realizes he hasn't been fair to the 12th and so he sends them a huge 'party basket' as a thank you for putting up with him and giving him their patient support and friendship.

He called Captain Montgomery and they had a long and honest conversation. Montgomery knows the real reasons Castle's turned in his shadow cloak. He knows how much it's taking the writer to just walk away from it all and tells him 'don't give up without a fight, Castle'.

"Roy, she walked away twice with him and that should be evidence enough of where her heart lies."

He had at least a month with nothing to do until the launch of his last _Heat_ novel and the book tour. He doesn't want to return to the city and its memories.

Roy had called him and said he had forms, questionnaires, releases and more forms to complete and sign and – no – they couldn't be mailed. He's already late and personnel and insurance are breathing down his neck. He has no choice now but to return.

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

_Her Name Was Elena _by Oldest Man

Chapter 3  
>12th Precinct<br>Homicide Detectives Squad Room

Kate walked off the elevator and spotted the enormous party basket with its huge horseshoe shaped floral arrangement and a banner that read '_**Happy Bar Mitzvah, Arnold**_' and she had to chuckle. Only Castle would do something so unorthodox just to make a statement.

She knew there would be free flowing booze in the future for her team and probably for Lanie and the Captain as well. Castle would have wanted everyone to enjoy the party even if he wasn't there.

"Yo, Beckett, there was a note tucked in the big one to all of us. It's addressed to you." Esposito watched her face for any indication of just what the hell was going on with Castle.

Dear Detective Beckett:

Thanks for everything. I'm a better man for having known you.

Josh is a lucky guy and I hope you two are very happy.

Regards,

Rick Castle

She realizes that she's finally succeeded – he's been pushed away one time too many; she made him feel small and inconsequential by her actions and words one time too many. He has taken the hint to heart.

He's gone.

She tried calling him and leaving voice mail messages and texts until his number was changed. She called the loft but Martha was vague, not rude but brusque and abrupt. The detective knew that whatever has happened between her and Castle also had an impact on the Castle women as well. Martha's icy tone is evidence enough of that.

Kate called Alexis but she's distant and deflecting and finally the teenager blurted out, "You walked away from him twice when he needed you the most. How do you think he was feeling, Detective, huh? Just like you were feeling.' Please don't call me anymore, Detective Beckett. I have nothing to say and no, I won't give him a message or give you his cell number. Good bye."

Beckett was very upset but before she could call Martha and beg her, if necessary, for Castle's location, Josh called her to tell her he's off to the Middle East in a few days 'because they need me'.

It's the final straw. She forgets she's in the squad room and yells, "I need you too, you selfish son of a bitch. Don't bother calling me when you get back. We're through, finito, done, toasted twice and put away. I'm tired of running a weak second to your fucking career!"

'_I should have done this the first time he pulled this crap. It's all about him and his needs. What about __me__?'_

A little voice answered.

'_Welcome to Castle's world, Beckett. It's all about you in Castleland. You're just a selfish and neurotic and over-controlling hypocrite! You demand from Josh what you denied Castle for so long. How does it feel to be in Castle's shoes for a change? Has he ever asked you to give up your career or your search for your mother's killer? Nope. So why is he gone?'_

She picked up her purse and walked to the Ladies Room. It wasn't even 9am and it had already been a shitty day.

Esposito knocked on the door and told her that the Captain wanted her in his office.

He was still standing there when she opened the door. "Ah, Boss, it was hard not overhearing your conversations this morning. Do you want Ryan and me to go drag Castle into work?"

"No. No, he made his decision and it's the right one for him. I just don't understand why he won't take my calls or answer my texts or emails. He's changed his number and I can't get hold of him. Alexis won't talk to me anymore and Martha's a cold fish all of a sudden."

"Anything you need, just ask and we'll get it for you. But you need to do some damage control to the eye makeup, Becks. First impressions count for a lot." He turned and walked back to the squad bay and motioned Ryan into the break room.

Kate knocked on the Captain's door a few minutes later and was introduced to Senior Inspector Elena Tatiana Antonenko of the Moscow Municipal Police Department.

* * *

><p>After introductions, Inspector Antonenko followed Kate out to her desk. She sat in Castle's chair and Kate mentally shouted '<em>Get out of his chair! He's coming back!<em>' but calmly asked her the purpose of her visit.

"Detective Beckett, the recent events in your city, involving an explosive device, have come to our attention. We have similar problems and my superiors want me to pluck your brains out for your methodology and techniques. You were successful where we failed."

"Um, it's 'pick your brain', Inspector. I'm just glad my partner isn't – " She'd forgotten he wasn't there nor would he be in the future.

"That would be the famous criminal novelist, Richard Edgar Castle, no? I was hoping to meet him. His books are popular in my country, especially among the police. He writes very dirty scenes and seems very familiar with police procedures. Will he be available to speak with?"

Kate laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I think you mean 'crime novelist' and 'gritty' not 'dirty' although some of his chapters are very…'dirty'." They shared a laugh since each knew what she'd meant.

"So, this Castle, he is a good help here? He helps you solve your cases? He's not a – what is the phrase – not a pain in the butt?"

"He was an excellent partner and he – we - solved many cases we might not have without his help." She never really thought about it but she was right. They had solved cases more easily with his help.

"So, when can I meet this writer? I have read all his books. I feel like I know him somehow."

"He's no longer following us. He's working on other projects. He's done here."

"Is he still in the city? I could call him and introduce myself and drag him to dinner perhaps?"

Kate looked at Inspector Antonenko closely. Artic blue eyes, long honey blonde hair done up in a tight bun, a tailored uniform that did little to hide a lush figure and she wore boots that she knew Castle would love. She wouldn't have to drag him anywhere. She squashed her feelings of jealousy and answered her question.

"I'm sorry, Inspector, but I don't know – " She was interrupted by Esposito's anger-tinged exclamation of "Castle! Where the hell have you been, man?"

Castle stepped off the elevator and made a beeline for the Captain's office. He didn't understand why Roy couldn't just mail the damned questionnaire, forms and releases to him for signature. This was the last place on Earth he wanted to be. He cringed and looked around for an escape route after Esposito shouted, "Castle! Where the hell have you been, man?"

Ryan was on the phone but Esposito didn't wait. He walked rapidly over to Castle and glared at him.

"You think sending us a big basket of cheese and booze is going to make up for how you left us hanging in the wind, bro? That was cold, even for you, man. And what's with changing your phone number and not giving it out. Beckett's been worried sick about you. You have some serious sucking up to do, Castle."

Castle was quietly seething. The accusations, the tone…

"I don't have to explain a damned thing to anyone here, Esposito. I'm not a cop, remember? I'm just the hack writer who almost died twice in as many days." He narrowed his eyes and stepped well into Esposito's personal space before continuing.

"I don't need to justify a damned thing to you, Esposito, or Dr. Parish, or anyone else in this damned place. I always carried my weight, always tried to help, and always stood by you guys. Too bad the favor wasn't returned. Now, I have to see Roy and sign some forms and papers and then I'm out of here. You and Kevin – just watch her back, understand?"

Before Esposito could say a thing in response, Castle turned and walked purposefully to Montgomery's office. The Captain was standing in the doorway and had heard the entire exchange and just shook his head. '_This is worse than I thought'._

Beckett had also heard the exchange and had cringed when Rick had stepped so close to Esposito and jabbed his finger into Esposito's chest when he made each point.

"Ah, I see that he is here. Excuse me, please, and I will introduce myself." Elena stood up and walked toward the Captain's office. Kate had to admire how the woman carried herself and how well she filled out her dress uniform. She turned back to her desk but not before she saw the look Esposito was giving her. It wasn't hard to figure out. The look said 'Beckett, we _will_ talk about this.'

Rick was almost to the Captain's door when he heard a woman call out his name and it wasn't Beckett.

He turned and smiled. It was Katya from Montauk. No it wasn't. This woman was a foreign cop of some kind. But the resemblance…no, the eyes were the wrong color.

"Hello, Rick. I think we should talk. I would take you to dinner, yes?"

"Katya?" He wasn't sure it was she but the resemblance was uncanny. He was still holding her hand after a cursory European up-and-down handshake. He looked at it and saw manicured and painted nails but the small scar on her wrist that almost encircled it was exactly like the one the woman in Montauk had.

"No, I'm Elena. Senior Inspector Elena Antonenko of the Moscow Municipal Police." She looked at him closely. Somehow he'd recognized her and she was dying to pluck – er- pick his brain.

Rick took out a card, scribbled his cell number and his home phone number and then smiled. "I would be delighted, Senior Inspector Antonenko of the Moscow Municipal Police. Seven be okay?"

"Yes and please do not take this wrong, but I want to get out of this damned uniform. Can we go dress up casual?"

Rick had a series of dirty thoughts regarding the woman and getting her out of her uniform. He saw Beckett approaching and the look on her face was not pleasant.

"Take a cab to my place and then I will provide transportation for the evening if that's all right?"

"Yes. Until seven then?"

He nodded and glanced at Beckett and smiled his all-purpose smile that never really reached his eyes and stepped into Roy Montgomery's office and shut the door. His business at the 12th was almost done.

End Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 4

_Volkov boyat'sa — v les ne khodit' [If you're afraid of wolves - don't go to the woods.]_ Old Russian proverb.

* * *

><p>Elena Antonenko looked at Castle's card and noted his cell phone number and then his address. She had no idea how far her hotel was from his apartment and she didn't want to arrive late.<p>

"Excuse me, Detective Beckett, do you know how far this address is from the Marriott Centre? I have to plan my time and I have no idea how long it will take to get to Rick's home and I do not wish to be late."

Kate took the card and noticed that he was still at the same address and then turned it over and committed his new cell phone number to memory. Cops could be sneaky sometimes.

"I don't think it will take more than 20 minutes. Castle's loft is on a quiet side street near the park."

"Thank you, Detective Beckett."

"If we're going to be working together, please call me Kate or Beckett. Titles don't mean a lot around here. Let me introduce you to the boys on my team and then we'll get you outfitted with a vest and a weapon. No one goes out on my team without a vest. No exceptions. Are you authorized to carry a firearm in the US?"

Kate wanted to see him, to talk with him but the Captain had purposely drawn the blinds on his office after staring at her for a few seconds. The look on his face made her feel – dirty somehow.

"Da – yes. I have a special addendum to my visa from your Department of Homeland Security. Agent Fallon was very helpful in helping me get it."

"May I see your weapon, please? Is it compatible with standard 9mm cartridges?"

"Yes. It is the MP-443 Grach – er – '_Rook_' in English. Is there something wrong, Det – Kate?" She drew and cleared the weapon, ejecting the magazine and clearing the chamber before handing it to Beckett.

"Um, no, no. It's just that Castle's alter ego in his novels was named Rook, as I'm sure you know. It's just a coincidence. Wow, it's heavier than it looks!"

"Yes. It is heavy – um – 33 or 34 ounces in weight. But it is very reliable, accurate, and it does not mind getting dirty. I owe this my life several times over."

'_She owes her _Rook_ her life as do I owe mine.'_

"We have a range here. Would you like to go and do some shooting and run comparisons? Our Glock 40 is standard but it's got a lot of plastic so it's lighter than your Rook."

'_Rook. Why couldn't it have been named anything else? Crow, Buzzard, Vulture?'_

"Excellent idea, Kate. And then maybe we can talk about the case I came to learn from? I have clearances from your Internal Bureau and your Homeland Security agency."

'_Why does she have to be so damned good looking and why do even _**I**_ find her twisted English versions so charming? Damn Castle. He could have said _**No **_when she asked him to dinner_._'_

Javier Esposito watches Beckett and the Russian cop talk shop and compare weapons. He's really not listening or even paying attention. His mind, his anger, is focused on what Castle had said to him. Both the words and the look on his face belied what Esposito and Ryan had been told. '_Why is Castle so damned bitter all of a sudden?'_

"Yo, Ryan, let's you and me hit the breakroom. I want to compare some notes. Something's not right here. Man, Castle, he's never ever got in my face like he did and he was telling it like it is. The problem I got is that his version is different than Beckett's."

* * *

><p>Montgomery's Office<p>

"You sure you won't reconsider? You've been a great help to us all and you keep morale up and crap down. Are you sure?" Montgomery was clasping Rick's hand in goodbye.

"Yes. It's time for me to move on. I have more than enough research and background but to be honest, the Nikki Heat series just doesn't have the sparkle it once had."

"Rick, man to man, is Beckett the reason for your sudden departure?"

"I almost froze to death and then almost got blown up and it was a wake up call. I don't belong here. I'm a chronicler, a teller of real people's adventures and deeds as fiction. This is all too intense and I'm just not cut out for it. I'm not the brave man I thought I was. Almost dying was a wake up call for Richard Castle. I don't have the balls to do this, not anymore, Roy."

"You didn't answer my question, Rick." He knew the answer. He just wanted confirmation for his own satisfaction and peace of mind. Castle was a lot of things but a coward wasn't one of them.

"Roy, make sure you watch your ass out there. It's been a pleasure. You know where I live. Don't be a stranger. The beach house is yours anytime you decide to take a vacation, you know that. Make sure the guys know that, too. And Beckett, of course. Be a nice place for a honeymoon – rent free."

He forced a laugh and then waved his hand and left. He pushed the elevator button and the Fates were kind. The doors opened in response to the push and he was gone.

* * *

><p>Homicide Squad Break Room<p>

"Kevin, I'm telling ya, I saw his eyes. I saw that what he said and what he didn't say – he spouted the company line but it wasn't how it went down. Something happened in that freezer and again right afterwards. They dropped the hammer on any intel from the 'event' but something happened there, too."

"Esposito, it's none of our business. We have enough on our plates. Beckett's the boss. What she says is the truth as far as I'm concerned. I love Castle to death but the man's gone. Think about it. We are a team. Castle was never really 'one of us'. He was only here for Beckett and now he's not."

"So that's it? You're just going to let it go. Man, he is my friend. He might not be a cop but he's been beside us every step of the way through some hairy shit and not once did he break faith. I know cops with 20 years who can't say the same."

"So ask her. You have questions. She has the answers. Ask her. Maybe ask Lanie first, though. No sense walking into the lair of the alpha dog without knowing what you're getting in to."

"Now that's a damned good idea. I'll be back." Esposito headed down to the morgue and the ME's office. If anyone had the straight poop on Beckett versus Castle it was Lanie Parish.

* * *

><p>Indoor Firing Range<p>

Kate watch as Elena burned through one magazine, reloaded and then burned through another. One of the advantages of her weapon was how easily the magazine released. Another was it's capacity: 18 rounds.

Elena pushed the button to return the trolley and removed her ear protectors. She looked at the silhouette and snickered. She could tell exactly when she'd been distracted by a random thought. The one bullet hole that was in the 6-ring and not the 9 or 10.

"What's so funny? I'd say that's damned fine marksmanship." Kate could do as well, but not firing as fast as Elena had been.

"See here? I was thinking about the look on his face when he thought I was someone named _Katya._ He looked so hopeful and then so sad. Do you know this _Katya?_"

"No. He never mentioned her and I know most of the women he's dated over the past 3 years." _He's dated like what, 4 times in 3 years? _

"Good. I think he has the heats for her. The look on his face made me wonder about it. So, you and he – " The look on her face finished the sentence.

"Me and Castle? Oh, good God, no! I have a boyfriend, a doctor who's on his way to the Middle East on some humanitarian mission. And it's 'hots', Elena. You think he has the 'hots' for her." She rarely lied and yet it just rolled off her tongue like butter off a hot knife. She felt it was the truth so in her mind, it wasn't really a lie.

"Good. I would not want to be stepping on heels here."

"Toes. I would not want to be stepping on toes." Elena nodded and repeated the phrase a few times. It finally sounded correct to her ears and also made sense.

Elena had done literally thousands of interviews in her climb up the ranks of the department and she knew a lie when she heard it. Beckett's pupils had dialated, her eyes moved to the lower right and then the lower left of her field of vision and her nostrils flared slightly. No. Kate Beckett was a lousy liar. Too bad for her.

* * *

><p>12th Precinct Morgue<p>

"Javier, it's a good thing I don't have any fresh meat lying around here otherwise you'd be responsible for some serious delays in processing. Tell me again what Rick said? He really got into your face? He actually pushed his finger into you to make his points? Damn! I missed it. I always knew that boy had balls."

"Fine. He's got cojones muy grandes but answer my question, Lanie. Was he telling the truth? Is that all this is? He's moving on. Nothing else? Because I think the man's been pushed away one time too many and he's just had it up to here with the situation." He held his hand over his head, palm down.

"Look, there are some things that happened that I can't go into. Mostly because I don't really know exactly what happened but I can tell you this: Kate Beckett is alive and well today because Castle kept her alive in that freezer at great personal risk and uh, and the other place I can't talk about."

"And that's it? He expected some kind of reward for taking care of his partner? He's got his nose out of joint because we didn't hail him as some kinda frikkin' HE – RO? He quit because of that? What an asshole!"

"No. You know better than that. I think – no, I know that Beckett walked away with Josh and Castle didn't like it. The other time, I wasn't there but I was here, upstairs, when Josh showed up and she left with him, again. That had to have left a mark on Castle for sure after all they'd been through together."

"Oh. Yeah. Well, that explains everything. 'Course it doesn't matter now. Beckett told Josh to go Eff himself this morning on the phone right before the Russian chick showed up. She made a beeline for Castle and they're going to dinner tonight."

"It's about time Beckett got her head on straight. So Castle's staying then? Do we have to give back the party basket?"

"Uh, Lanie, it was the Russian Inspector who asked Castle to dinner. Not Beckett."

"What? Ima gonna smack that girl until she gets some smarts. So Castle is still gone? What did Beckett do? Did she talk to him at all? She is so not going to let him leave, is she?"

"Fraid so."

"I need to talk some sense into her. You go back up to the squad and I'll be along directly. Then you and Ryan take the Russian cop out for Vodka or something and I'll straighten our girl out right pronto."

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, the rotation team got a body and Lanie missed Beckett but met Inspector Elena Antonenko as she got off the elevator on the squad floor.<p>

"I was looking for Detective Beckett. I'm Lanie Parish, the Medical Examiner assigned to the Precinct. You must be the Russian cop." She was never known for her tact.

"Yes, I am Senior Inspector Elena Antonenko. It is good to meet you. We do not have our own 'medical examiner' but must send corpses to be processed in a central facility. The results are neither timely nor enlightening. I would be pleased to observe an examination, Dr. Parish. To see how it should be done so I can go home and kick some back ends."

"Why, sure. And I think you mean 'rear ends'. I don't have any customers right now but I'll let you know when we get a fresh one and that should be right smartly. So you and Castle have dinner plans? You know that he and Beckett have been dancing around each other for years."

"She told me she has a boyfriend, a doctor. She said she had no interest in a man-child."

"Ima gonna smack her." Her pager went off and she apologized to Elena.

"Got a customer. Got to go to the crime scene. Want to ride along?"

"I must take a rainy day on that. I have to return to my hotel, contact my office in Moscow and make a report. Next time, Dr. Parish, for certainly."

"It's Lanie and I'll hold you to that. Well, gotta fly."

'_Kate you are in so much trouble. I think you're in for the fight of your life. Javier didn't mention she had a killer body. Good boy. Ah, Katie. Sometimes you're so dumb.'_


	5. Chapter 5

3am and I can't sleep so here are two revised chapters of the hardly read OFC. I like so I guess that's ultimately all that matters.

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>Her Name Was Elena<span>_ by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 5<p>

_Chto u trezvogo na ume, u p'yanogo na yazyke.  
><em>_What's on sober's mind, is on drunk's tongue  
><em>Russian Proverb unknown source

Castle's Apartment Building

Elena was nervous. She didn't know why. Okay, she did. Somehow this Rick Castle had linked her with her infiltration identity and she wanted to know how he did it and most importantly, what he was going to do with this knowledge.

She figured she had two ways of finding out what he knew and how he knew it: seduce him and coax him into telling her or, more simply and infinitely more practical – ask him.

Part of her, the part that loved his books, the part that used his pseudo-realities to escape her own, that part wanted to seduce him and forget about what he knew. Rick Castle had been her savior when everything around her was falling apart. She wanted to – but no. That was not her mission although it might be her desire.

She leaned back against the wall of the elevator and allowed her mind to go blank and she breathed deeply, invoking her training and calming her nerves for the task ahead. When the elevator stopped at his floor she was calm, cool, and focused.

She looked at herself in the mirrored door and smiled her real smile, as if in practice. She was wearing a kakhi skirt that was just above the knee with a matching belted safari jacket. Oh, and her beloved calf skin boots she'd bought while vacationing on the Black Sea.

But when he opened the door and smiled, her focus waivered, her calm fled and she suddenly felt a flash of heat pass over her. He was smiling, an open and honest smile lacking the guile and subtlety her own represented.

"Senior Inspector Antonenko, right on time. Please, come in. I've made reservations at a quiet restaurant not far from here. I hope you like Italian food, if not, simply tell me what you're hungry for, and I'll find a place nearby."

"I pride myself on being punctual, Rick. And please, for tonight, I'm just plain Elena Antonenko, a tourist lucky enough to be in the company of a world famous criminal writer. Oh – I meant 'crime' writer. My English is very text book and I've never practiced with Americans."

"My publisher thinks it's criminal to have to pay so much for something so worthless, Elena Tatiana. You only spoke what others think. Will you continue doing that, Elena, or will you fall back behind your mask and continue to play me?"

"'Play you'? What does that mean? And what you write is not worthless. Your stories meant a great deal to me when I was younger and they helped me choose my profession after – "

He held up a hand and smiled when she quit talking. He could listen to her talk all evening. Her voice was quite lovely, the timbre rich and deep while not at all masculine, no, not one bit. He hated women with high pitched squeaky voices. Like fingernails on a chalk board.

"I mean, Elena, that you are Katya and Katya is you. Let me have your hand and I will prove it. Then we shall see if you deny it and continue deceiving me or if you'll be truthful. Either way, I'll be delighted to go to dinner with you and show you the city on future occasions as your assignment permits. But I will not share with you what you wish to know."

She sighed. This was not going according to plan. She was not in control of the meeting and she hated that, really hated it.

"Here is my hand, Rick. Are you going to read my palm? Tell me about my future?" She tried to cover her nervousness with sarcasm and skepticism. It reminded him of how Beckett deflected and avoided things she didn't want to know or acknowledge.

"No, Elena. I'm going to look for the scar that almost encircles your right wrist. Ah, yes, now, I see. So, sit, please, and tell me your lies, Katya Karpov, or is Elena Tatiana Antonenko also an alias?" He reminded her of one of her early teachers who had spoken just like Rick, in an assumed academic role.

'_Shit! This is going totally out of control. Those Chekists were not correct in their assumptions and now I will have to be truthful and just trust him.' _Her thoughts, in Russian, of course, carried out into her words in English.

"I really am Elena Tatiana Antonenko, Senior Inspector of the Moscow Police but I am here by special permission after a leave of absence. I _was_ your Katya Karpov for almost 5 months before activating my assignment. All I have done has not always been within the law but was also very necessary to bring a criminal to justice."

He was still holding her hand and her gaze. He hadn't so much as blinked in surprise. She, however, did blink and gasped in surprise when he kissed the palm of her hand.

"Thank you for telling me the truth and for trusting me with it. It will go no further, I promise you. I'm starved, Elena, and I prefer conversation over dinner and wine. The place I've selected is very casual although you look beautiful enough to enter almost any restaurant in Manhatten dressed as you are, so please, let's eat and talk. The car is waiting."

* * *

><p>The time in the elevator was spent in silence but he took her hand in his when the doors opened and walked with her to the car. The drive to the restaurant started in silence after Rick gave the driver their destination but Elena broke it with a question.<p>

"Rick, in Montauk, I just wanted you to know that I missed you the next morning by minutes. Leonid told me that you'd asked about me. You know he thought you were trying to buy me for the night with your large tip but after reading your note, he told me you were a good man. He was right. I wish you'd come back."

"So do I, but if I had, would we be sitting here where we are now? I don't think so."

'No, Rick, we would be in your bed by now. I would have taken you to bed in Montauk, even before I knew who you were. You hit me like a thunderbolt and I could hardly think of anything but you even after dismissing you from my conscious thoughts. You were always there, waiting to interrupt my thoughts.'

"I would hope so. No, I am sure of it."

"So the meeting at the Precinct this morning – you planned that?"

"Oh, no. I had hoped to 'run into' you there but I didn't plan this morning. Not at all. Detective Beckett had said you were done being her shadow and moved on to other projects. I would have found you and arranged a meeting, if only to explain Katya to you – but also to seek your help."

Rick was examining her statement for flaws, holes, inconsistencies and finally discarded any semblance of suspicion. He was in the company of a beautiful and exotic woman and he intended to simply immerse himself in the evening. He had no plans for 'them' other than tonight. He would let her 'drive the bus' and see where it took them.

"We'll talk over dinner, Elena." He nodded at the driver and made a rocking motion with his hands. He wasn't sure where the driver's loyalties lay. He was new and Castle trusted no one with the welface of his friends.

She looked at the driver and then nodded and the couple chatted about things she saw as they made their way to the restaurant. The driver would have nothing of substance to report. Rick would not use this car service again.

* * *

><p>Dinner<p>

"I am glad to finally meet a woman who eats like I do. I take it the food is good?"

"Oh, yes. I will have to run a few extra kilometers to burn it off but it is worth running a Marathon to experience. Italian restaurants in my home are no comparison for this. So many different tastes and so well prepared and presented – amazing."

Castle laughed at her comments and motioned the waiter over. He whispered something and the waiter blushed and then disappeared. Rick poured them both more wine and the glanced at the man approaching their booth.

"Rick! You slide in, eat, slide out and don't come see me? Maria will have my bollocks for not bringing you back to see her. Now, what is this crap about a food critic? You know I'm immune to criticism from those effete idiots with their simpering ways."

Castle had known Montoya since the early days of his writing career. When things had been tough and money short, he'd often come here and shared a plate of spaghetti with Alexis, then 3 years old. The two men had compared daughters and tales and soon became fast friends. As Rick's writing became more popular, he'd steered more and more business his way, even including it as the setting for several conversations in his Derek Storm novels.

"Vic Montoya, meet Elena Tatiana Antonenko, senior critic of the Moscow Gastronomic Society. She has complaints, Vic, about the food."

Castle's eyes twinkled with mirth and Elena, mouth full of caneloni, could not do much other than glare at him and look up at the hulking giant of a chef aplogetically.

She chewed and swallowed as quickly as she could and then before she could say a single word, saw that the entire staff had surrounded the table and looked on expectantly.

Seeing Castle's face, she decided to play along. "The presentation is adequate but the quatities are ridiculous. What woman would want to eat here knowing she was condemning herself to hours of running, an intimate relationship with a treadmill as well as the knowledge that she ate like a pig in front of her man."

"Moscow, huh? They don't feed you like this in ROOSHA?" Montoya was in on Castle's part of the joke. He only brought special women here to a place he considered an intimate part of his life. This one must be very special since he'd ordered the best wine and had requested a quiet and discrete corner table 'near the rear exit if required'.

"No. The Russian Federation has not yet caught up with the western habits of gluttony, but after my review, it will soon catch on. Seriously Chef Montoya, this was – wonderful. Each new dish with a distinct taste – almost heaven."

Montoya laughed and sat his bulk down and looked at a smug Richard Castle. "So, this is the new muse, Ricky? You look better, more relaxed. This one doesn't have a stick up her ass, Ricky, and I'm glad you finally saw the light. That Beckett woman, no hope there. Cold fish. Very cold."

Elena had been watching Castle's face and saw the mirth change to caution and then to outright misery. Without thinking, she reached across the table and took his hand in hers. He looked so sad and lost. So Beckett had lied to her, too. Or perhaps it was Castle who had feelings that weren't returned?

"Rick, I think the joke is out of hand. It has run it's course. Chef Montoya, I am Elena Tatiana Antonenko. I am a city cop in Moscow. I am here to work with the NYPD on some cases we share. I was serious about the food. It is disgustingly good and no woman would feel comfortable eating as such food demanded in front of her man."

She squeezed Rick's hand and Montoya got the several messages in her little speech and waved his staff away and leaned over toward Rick. "Sorry if I stomped on your little piggies, Ricky, y'know I got a big mouth. Eat up, drink, then come back and see Maria. And next time, bring Lexie. It's been ages since those two saw each other."

He got up and left after winking at Elena. His loud voice carried in from the kitchen. "Did you hear what she said? We're dangerous to their skinny figures. That's high praise indeed from a Russki. Now, enough standing around feeling proud, get back to work."

"Hey, Rick, do you wish to go? The man only said the truth. You and Beckett did have a relationship, no? She lied to me and I do not trust her now. Do you wish to leave? I can take a cab back to the hotel. No problem. I had a wonderful time – "

"I – it was all on my part. A mistake in judgment, a misreading of signs, misunderstood remarks. Sometimes I am blind to things, seeing only what I wish to see. I won't make that mistake again. Even a blind pig can find acorns."

"You found _me…_" Her grip intensified and some of the weariness left his eyes replaced by a twinkle she had never seen before.

"How would you like to go to Moscow, tonight, Elena, and drink and dance and tell each other lies."

"I do not think we can make such a trip and be back in time for work on Monday." She was thinking about visa requirements, impromptu lodging and –

"It's only a cab ride away. I would like to go, if you would? You must be tired – "

"No! I am quite refreshed and I should dance off this fattening though wonderful meal. Yes, let's go to _your_ Moscow." _'And someday maybe I'll take you back to mine, my Moscow'._

* * *

><p>Castle called for a cab and they went back to the kitchen to say 'hello' to Montoya's daughter who was a year older than Alexis. Promises were exchanged and they caught a cab.<p>

"Brighton Beach, 7175 Sevier Avenue," was the address Castle gave the cabbie who turned around and gave Castle a look.

"You sure you wanna go there? I mean it's dark and those people – " Castle interrupted him and shoved a Fifty dollar bill through the slot.

"Yeah, been there before. Know the owner and you don't have to hang around. Just get us there. And save the social commentary. I guess there aren't many Russians in India, are there?"

The last sentence was muttered with ugly disdain. The immigrant communities were as insular and clannish in the 21st century as they had been in the 19th century until they assimilated. Apparently the gas was out underneath the 'great melting pot'.

* * *

><p>The bar and dance club that Castle took her to was called Moscow Nights and it was owned by an old acquaintance of Castle's who he met researching a Derek Storm novel that he abandoned as 'too cumbersome to read'. He had not abandoned his friendship with Andrei Sumintova. He was too much fun to be around.<p>

Elena's eyes closed and she cursed in each of the 5 languages she was fluent in. She'd been to this place before – several times – with 'dates' during her infiltration as 'Katya Karpov'. She hoped she could avoid a confrontation if anyone recognized her. If so, the confrontation would be between her and Rick and she wanted desperately to avoid such an event until she could take him in her arms and explain what 'Katya' did and why.

"C'mon, Elena, you'll love this place. I'm told it's just like being home to a Russian."

That's exactly what she was afraid of.


	6. Chapter 6

A twofer. I can't sleep so I just diddled this a bit. I think it works better now. Subtle changes but large to me.

* * *

><p><em><span>Her Name Was Elena<span>_ by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 6<p>

Moscow Nights Bar & Dance Club

Castle knew something was wrong. Elena had strangled a gasp when she saw where the cab had brought them. Her hand had clenched in his and her palm was damp.

"Elena, if you'd rather skip things – perhaps too much Italian food and the wine – I understand." He didn't want her uncomfortable.

"No, it's fine, Rick, really. I just had a bad passing thought is all. Please, let's go. I want to dance and drink and forget all about my troubles, as should you. We are together and I like that, Rick. I like being your 'muse' for the night."

The 'doorman' aka 'big bad-assed bouncer' grinned at Rick and welcomed him with a brief one-armed hug and a crushing handshake.

"You are back! And you brought a friend this time. Andrei Sumintova is in his office but will be told you are here. Too long away you have been, Castle. And where is the damned book you were going to write me into? I have told the ladies many lies if you do not print your story. Do not make me a liar, Castle!"

"It is waiting to be finished, Yuri. Moscow was not built in one day, right? And so it is with great works of literature. Tell the girls that you'll be a hero and then wait for the book. I won't disappoint you. I value my hand too much."

He was flexing his right hand, trying to restore circulation. Yuri's hands were like hams but stronger than steel.

They entered the dimly-lit bar and Elena quickly looked around for anyone she might have 'known' and then the hostess greeted them and led them to a table on the mezzanine overlooking the dance floor. She took their drink orders and disappeared.

"Elena, relax and enjoy yourself. You are surrounded by Great Russians of all kinds. Andrei Sumintova owns this place and is a great friend. You have nothing to worry about."

She squeezed his hand and started to say something when they were interrupted by two hulking men in black suits who were escorting a smaller man dressed in gray pinstripes, a regimental striped tie and a crisp shockingly white shirt and sported a shaved head and sunglasses and who was staring at her, trying to place her in his memory.

"Rick Castle, again you have slithered in here like a snake into the chicken coop. How have you been?" He motioned for one of the goons to bring him a chair and he sat down and lit a Russian cigarette and leaned back and stared appraisingly at Elena.

"Andrei Sumintova, may I present Elena Antonenko, who was gracious enough to risk her health and welfare by accompanying me to your dump. I see you still have Tweedledum and Tweedledee shadowing you. You must owe someone a great deal of money to require such a pair as those two."

Elena looked at Rick as if he had sprouted horns and a forked tail. He was insane to insult Sumintova. He could 'disappear' them both without a worry. Her grip on his hand increased exponentially. Such insults could not be ignored.

Sumintova glared at Castle and said in Russian to the larger of his hulking behemoths, "Kill them both, slowly, and dispose of them in the trash."

Elena started to reach for her weapon before realizing she didn't have it and both Sumintova and Castle began to laugh and embrace one another in Russian style.

"Andrei, you still threaten me with a grisly death even after all I've done to keep you out of the eyes of the authorities. And you threaten a Senior Inspector of the Moscow Police Force to boot. Surely you will meet an untimely end, my good friend. So how is the family? Is your mother responding well to the treatments?"

"Da! She is in remission and wishes you best health and asks about you. It would not kill you to come by and see her, you know? She still thinks you and Adriana should marry and make many American babies. It is often a small talk between them."

"Andrei, your sister has been married 3 times and each has met with an unfortunate demise. And her moustache is thicker than Stalin's. I must again decline. I have my eyes on another prize."

"Sad. If you were my brother-in-law I could kill you for beating my sister but, alas, I will settle for taking your money and friendship. So, how are your delightful mother and your Alexis? A true Russian princess that one will make. When my son is old enough and wise enough, he will marry her, no?"

"Absolutely not, Andrei Stefanovich Sumintova. Never!" Castle's false outrage brought laughs from even the two hulks. Sumintova's son was less than a year old.

"Elena, Andrei's son is not even out of diapers and already he is trying to arrange a marriage. Alexis would have my ass for even speaking of it. She is 17 and – well – she is 17."

Elena laughed but was thinking about whom 'another prize' was that he was eyeing. She pushed down her jealousy and concentrated on the conversation between Castle and this man she knew to be a murderous thug without any morals at all. '_How could Rick be friends with such a monster?'_

Sumintova spoke to Elena rapidly in Russian and he spoke earnestly and with passion.

"Inspector Antonenko, do not be alarmed about my friendship with your man. He is a dear friend who means the world to me. Thanks to him, my sainted mother still lives. He is kind and has a full heart and has respect and honor. Neither of you need fear for your safety here or elsewhere in Brighton Beach. He is under my protection. And now that I know you and he are together, so are you."

"He would not _need_ protection, Andrei Stefanovich, if he avoided this place entirely."

"Oh, Inspector, this is _America! _Rick is free to come and go as he pleases. He does not repeat things and he has told me many times to 'clean up my act' lest he see something he cannot ignore. Your secret is safe with me, _Katya_. And I already know I will agree to help you if he asks. Just know that even I have limits to friendship. Do not push me against the wall, Inspector. I will push back."

They had spoken so quickly that Castle had missed the reference to 'Katya' and for that Elena was grateful. She would explain, as she'd promised herself, when the time and place were correct.

"Он души русской, инспектор." _He has the soul of a true Russian._ It was a compliment of the highest order and she knew Sumintova meant it in the truest way.

"Okay, you're talking about me and I don't understand Russian so either be courteous and clue me in or feel free to find me at the bar when you're done with your discussions."

"Rick, we were just discussing our homeland and the changes. Surely you are not so insecure to worry about us wagging tongues behind your back? Now, I must go. Drink, dance, and don't forget to visit my mother. And next time, call first so I can have a much better table for you. Good evening to the both of you."

He stood and left and one of the hulks leaned over and whispered something to Castle and then slapped him on the back and followed his boss down onto the dance floor.

"What did he say to you, Rick? Was it something smart?"

"He said that of all the men here, I am the luckiest and I should bring you back and that for a cop you are very beautiful. And I agreed with him. Would you like to dance now that they are playing music you can actually touch your partner to?"

She laughed and grasped his hand and dragged him down the stairs to the dance floor. When he folded her into his arms she felt safe and warm. He was a very good dancer and she felt very light on her feet. The former ballerina in her appreciated his light touch as he guided her through the dance.

_She_ was the one who drew him nearer to her, who wrapped her hands behind his neck and rested her cheek against his shoulder. Rick was a conundrum to her, a puzzle to be solved. One moment he was laughing and making jokes but he'd been serious at the correct times and she found his rapid-fire humor delightful.

"Rick, I have something I want to do. Lean down here…" When he did, she kissed him softly, smiling into it when he sighed and deepened it ever so slightly as if saying 'I'll let you lead this dance'.

"That was so you don't become anxious about the 'good night kiss'. The ice between us is melted and you can look forward to the evening." She laughed at his delighted smile and knew her daring act (for her) was the correct thing to do – especially if she wanted this to continue.

"I like how you break the ice, Elena. I hope Andrei was not too intimidating. I forgot that you're a cop for a moment. I shouldn't have brought you here, surrounded by the underbelly of the Russian mob. If you're uncomfortable we can leave. Andrei is very good about his security and we're in no danger here. He'll even have one of the Hulks escort us to our cab."

"You must tell me how you two became friends. When first he approached our table I was concerned. Your insults to each other had me worried, Rick. You both seemed so damned serious."

"You would think that, wouldn't you? I've known him for years and I owed him for something and I repaid it by hooking his mother up with the right oncologist. We've been good friends ever since."

"I don't want to leave. I want to forget the 'cop' and just enjoy the evening as a woman. Let's just dance and drink and enjoy life as much as two people such as we can."

"You make it sound like this is a 'last time' for us, Elena. Is it? I don't want it to be." He was looking at her with concern, wondering if he'd somehow offended her. She'd kissed him and he'd held back from deepening it until he knew her intentions.

"Oh, no, Rick. The first of many, I hope. My department has made application for an exchange program with your Homeland Security agency and I am hoping now more than ever to be selected. You and I, I would like to think, are just beginning."

Castle's smile was one she'd never seen on him before. His eyes crinkled shut and his delight was evident in his smile. She hoped to make him smile like that often.

"From your smile, I take it you are not adverse to spending time with me together as one? What you say – a couple?" She hoped she wasn't pushing too hard or too fast but she wanted this and him.

"I want to spend time with you, yes. We hardly know each other but I think we can change that. We can work around your job and spend as much time together as you like."

"Good." She wormed her way into his arms even closer, inhaling the scent of his body wash and aftershave. She seemed to be floating on a cloud as they danced the evening away.

They made their way back to their table and finished their drinks. The ice had melted and the drinks were not as strong. Castle was ready to leave. She'd been comfortable dancing but now her eyes were all over the place, looking at people, evaluating threats – just like Beckett would do in a similar situation.

"Elena, I think we should go. You're nervous as a blind man in a sawmill. I'll call for a car and take you back to your hotel. We'll have other nights but I promise you we won't come back here."

"Okay, Rick. I do have to go into the precinct tomorrow morning to use their computers and then I'm done for the day. You could always – come up to my room. We could order coffee and talk."

Castle knew this was a bad idea. He wanted to go slowly, allow anything between then to develop naturally. He wasn't going to push or take advantage. He'd spent 2 years misreading the signs and he didn't want any more mistakes – not if this was going to go somewhere like they both seemed to want.

"Elena, I think I'll just head home. After you're done with the precinct, call me and I'll pick you up and – would you like to have dinner with me? I could cook or – listen, it's almost Spring and the weather's been really nice. Would you like to come out to the beach house with me and I'll grill us up some steaks and we can talk – unless that's too much for you. I mean, I don't mean, aw shit, Elena, you know what I mean."

"Yes. I will have to find casual clothes so pick me up at 11am at the Precinct. If it rains, what will we do?"

"We'll cook indoors. It's not exactly a shack, Elena. It _does_ have a kitchen."

"Good. Then some time I will cook for you something other than burnt meat, okay? I am a good cook when I apply myself."

* * *

><p>The ride to the hotel was relatively quiet although they did hold hands and she seemed fascinated by everything she saw. He liked that quality about her. She seemed very open to new things.<p>

Castle walked her into the hotel and up to her room. The kiss, just inside her hotel room door, was more passionate than the first and when her tongue tickled his lips and then fenced with his, he knew he'd better leave.

She promised to call him when her business at the precinct was done and he could pick her up there. When the door closed she cursed herself for being so aggressive. He was like a wounded animal and she knew it would take patience and time to coax him out of his cave.

* * *

><p>Precinct<br>Saturday 9am

Elena was killing her worries by firing her weapon at silhouettes. Some would say her 'therapy' was creepy but she'd found that when she was worrying about something it helped kill her fears after burning through a few magazines. The feel of the Rook in her hand calmed and centered her and allowed her to think.

Kate had been tying up loose ends on her paperwork mountain that seemed to be self-regenerating like some paper starfish and finally just said, 'Screw this shit. It'll be here Monday, probably higher than now'. She had once set up a surveillance camera to see if one of her coworkers was shifting paperwork to her desk but she'd never found any evidence of wrongdoing or of poltergeists either.

Grabbing her purse and car keys, she headed out for another boring weekend of laundry, take-out, another stab at War and Peace and maybe a movie on pay-per-view. She stopped by the range and found her counterpart busy blasting the crap out of silhouettes and decided to see what the Russian Inspector had planned for the weekend. Perhaps they could be bored together?

"Hey, Elena, what are you doing here on a Saturday morning?" She really wanted to know how her and Castle's dinner date went. She hoped it was an utter disaster.

"I am purging myself of idiocy, Kate. I made a fool of myself last night and I am down here doing penance trying to forget what a fool I was."

Kate felt a smile blossom and fought hard to contain it.

"What happened? Don't tell me Castle made a move on you? I should have warned you that he is a charming rogue and will screw anything that stands still long enough. I suppose he made an excuse to get into your hotel room and – "

"No! No! _**I**_ was the one who 'made a move'. He was a gentleman always. I was the one – " Whatever she was going to say was lost in the blasts of her pistol.

"Want to talk about it?" Kate really wanted to know what _**she**_ considered 'a move'. Maybe there were translation problems?

"Da. Yes. We went to a delicious dinner and talked with Chef Montoya and then we went to Moscow Nights for drinks and dancing. He was the perfect gentleman and it was I who kissed him and suggested we go to my hotel room. I am not normally so forward but he is so nice, such a good dancer and so handsome – "

"He – he took you to Montoya's on a first date? And then to Moscow Nights? He knows how dangerous that place can be. I suppose he did it to impress you." She was smirking although the idea of the two of them at Montoya's was a blow.

"No, I think he did it because all the people were Russian and I may have hinted that I was a little homesick. We met the bar owner and some others. They were all very proper although Rick and Andrei were going to kill each other at first – or so I thought. He is a good man, Rick Castle. He could make the dead smile and the damned laugh."

Castle had taken her to Montoya's once, but not until they'd been 'partners' for quite some time. He said it was special place he only took special people. She had felt very special although Montoya had never made an appearance.

He'd mentioned Moscow Nights a few times but Kate had vetoed the place since almost everyone there was a criminal, prostitute or some variety of low-life, but he didn't hesitate to take her there because she was homesick.

"I need to log onto one of your computers and check on some émigrés who have outstanding Interpol warrants before Rick picks me up. We are going to his summer place for the weekend. Could you help me, Kate, to log on to your system?"

"Yeah, sure." Kate was upset and she hoped it didn't show. This Russian woman had gotten further into the maze that was Richard Castle than she'd ever have imagined. The weekend at The Hamptons! And he'd taken her to Montoya's on their very _first _date!

* * *

><p>Castle was leaning against the car, his arms crossed and his head bowed as if in deep thought when the two women came out of the precinct together.<p>

Beckett glared at Castle when the Russian woman sauntered over and raised his face by putting a fingertip to his chin and then kissed him leisurely on the lips and she heard her say, "I'm sorry it took so long, Rick. Kate was helping with some mug shots. I'm so looking forward to the weekend."

He glanced briefly at Beckett, remembering the last time he'd asked a woman from the Precinct to go with him to the summer house and her lame excuses about Demming.

"Me too. I'm glad you don't have other plans or have to work."

Kate sighed heavily and watched as their car drove off. She wasn't looking forward to the weekend at all. Maybe she'd call Lanie and they could just have a girls' night in. She wanted to talk to her about Castle.

She needed a plan. No Russian cop was going to barge into _her_ house and mess up _her_ life.


	7. Chapter 7

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 7

"Rick, tell me about you and Kate. No gore, just the barest of bones. When she interrogated me about last night, she was surprised many times. Do you really screw anything that stands still long enough?" Her quiet laugh made him smile.

"Well, no. I have a carefully crafted public persona that helps my books sell because women think 'I could be the one'. It's all bullshit that my agent and publisher cook up to increase sales. I play along because it's fun. Actually, Elena, I haven't been with a woman in nearly 2 ½ years."

"Well, we are together now, yes? And I am a woman, yes? And so now your long wait has been over since last night."

"Um, Elena I meant – " Again her quiet laugh made him smile.

"I was just pulling your arm, Rick. I know what you mean. So about Castle and Kate – "

"Leg, Elena. It's 'pulling your leg'. As for Castle and Kate – "

He talked about ten minutes without any interruptions.

"So, after the dirty bomb was defused, I started to tell her how I felt but she walked away with Josh, her boyfriend, and then I met a wonderful and mysterious woman in Montauk and the rest you know."

Elena wiped one eye and cursed in Russian. Well, the stupid woman's loss was her gain. '_Too late to do much about it when the wolf has already swallowed you'_.

Once again she took his hand in hers and then put the other over it as if sheltering his. "Rick, she made her choices and now much live with them. You made your choice and now you are living with it. Let me ask you, are you happy now with your choice or would you rather be sitting beside her knowing she cares for another?"

She had the biggest eyes when she spoke sincerely. Her pupils seemed to disappear in a huge field of cornflower blue and for a moment he was mesmerized by them.

"Rick?" He seemed distracted, perhaps lost in thought. So Elena was completely surprised when he leaned in and kissed her softly and then sat back and smiled.

"Does that answer your question, Inspector Antonenko?" He looked at her expectantly.

"No. I think you need to answer the question again, but this time, more fully." She smiled demurely and leaned in to encourage his answer.

"Of course, Inspector Antonenko." His kiss this time was still soft and gentle but his tongue slipped along the crease formed by her lips and snaked its way in between and sought her own out.

Her fingers ran up his arms and behind his neck and pulled him closer. She groaned somewhere and then started to giggle as Castle ran a fingertip up under her shirt and across her flat stomach.

"Rick, stop. I am terribly ticklish. In the right setting, with the right man, I will be not so terribly ticklish." The look she gave him was full of answers to questions he hadn't even thought of yet.

"Well, if that's the test of being the right man, I guess I failed miserably." He put a pout on his face and looked at her sadly.

"I also said 'in the right setting', Richard Edgar Castle. This vehicle is not my idea of 'the right setting'. I'm sure you will do better." Another quick kiss and she sat back and smiled at him, daring him to make the next move.

"We're almost there, Elena. Do you need anything before we get there?" He had no idea what she expected or what she'd prepared for. He didn't want to be running around at 2am looking for Tampax.

Elena ran her finger around the outside of his ear and giggled when he shivered. "No, Rick. I have everything I need right here." He blinked at the obvious double entendre but chose to ignore it. Two could play the double-speak game.

"Good, because we're here. Driver, turn at the next lane. The gate code is 41494." Alexis' birthday. Easy to remember and he'd change it to his mother's for the duration of their stay and then to something else when they left. He really wasn't worried about anyone breaking in. Security was tight and he had his own security system as well.

The car pulled into the turnaround and the driver started to get out but Castle stopped him.

"Don't leave the car, either of you! I'll just be a moment." Rick stepped out of the car and whistled a strange melody and almost immediately two Dobermans came running out of the shrubbery and threw themselves around Rick. It they were human children, they'd be laughing.

"Elena, you can get out now. Felix and Oscar won't bother you if I'm here and once they get safe words with you, you'll be OK to come here without me. Boys, meet Elena, my special lady. She's 'Apples', Felix; she's 'Apples', Oscar." He reached out and took Elena's hand and then each of the dogs sniffed at her and Felix licked it, gave her a dog's smile and then the two of them bounded off to do whatever they'd been doing before Castle came.

"You have guard dogs? What do they do when you're not here?" _And why, Richard Edgar, do you need such beasts?_

"Yeah. I got them when Alexis was 10. They mostly lay around, eat, chase chipmunks and ground squirrels and the occasional rabbit that strays in, but mostly they're like me – they do nothing at all. The security company feeds them and takes care of them but they're mine. They're getting old and soon I'll have to retire them and get a new pair."

"You will shoot them? They are guard dogs. Trained to attack."

"Why would I shoot them? No. I'll just let them roam free and unlock the doggy door and let them hang around the interior gardens. I couldn't shoot them. They're like family. Besides, Alexis would hate me."

"Ah, when will I get to meet this mysterious Alexis? She sounds like my competition. You don't need to explain. A father's love is clearly upon your face when you speak of her. So, what happened to her mother?"

She saw the look on his face and reached over and grabbed his forearm to get his attention. "I'm sorry, Rick, for being a cop. Inquisitions are my thing. It doesn't matter to me what happened to her so long as she is not a pea under my mattress."

"Let's go inside, Elena, and I'll start the grill and then you can grill me for my secrets." He had to laugh at the look on her face. Apparently some American slang translated differently into Russian or she just got lost in the 'grill' definitions. Either way, the look on her face was adorable.

"Rick, I just have this picture of you in my mind being turned on a spit and refusing to answer my questions. Please, no more grill jokes." She shivered rather dramatically and then put her arm through his and walked towards the house.

"My God! How many families live here with you?" The old Soviet Union housing solutions flew through her mind. There was still not enough housing to allow multigenerational families their own places to live. She remembered Castle's reply when she asked what they would do if it rained:

_It's not exactly a shack, Elena_

"Just mine. I let the teams from the 12th come up during the summer for a vacation when we're not in residence. Alexis is getting to the age she'd prefer staying away from Daddy and with her friends instead. It's way too big but I had other intentions when I bought it."

"Oh?" Now he had scratched her curiosity bump.

"Later, Elena. After you explain 'Katya' and just what it is you're really doing in my country. After we eat, of course."

"Of course." She was dreading her time in the confessional. She would do much penance for the lies she would tell. Necessary lies but still lies and she didn't want to lie to him.

* * *

><p>After a quick tour of the house Castle noticed that Elena was dragging. He had no idea what time she'd gone into the Precinct but he knew she would benefit from a nap.<p>

"Babe, let's get you set up in the guest bedroom and you can take a nap. We have all weekend to enjoy this place and each other. Don't fight me on this Elena. You're tired. I can see it in your eyes. Take a nap. I'll be right down stairs if you need anything."

He carried her bag into the guest bedroom and didn't see the look on her face. She had expected him to put her bag in the Master Suite along with his but he hadn't and once again she was forced to reevaluate her assumptions. Beckett had obviously lied to her about many things but almost always about Richard Castle.

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then ushered him out and sat on the bed, counting slowly to 100. When she reached 100 she stood up, grabbed her bag and walked across the hall to the Master Suite. If he didn't think it was appropriate, too bad. She had an agenda and it was important to her that she tell him the truth while in his arms – that way he couldn't run until she was finished.

Elena unpacked, hung up her few clothes and then disrobed and slid between the sheets nude. She hadn't worn sleepwear except in the hospital since she was 15 and wasn't about to start now. She didn't even own a nightgown.

Those thoughts were the last she remembered before falling asleep. The mattress was so soft and yet firm and the sheets and comforter were so soft and smelled so good…

* * *

><p>Kate's day<p>

Kate had had time to work out her temporary issues and was now soaking in a tub examining her bruised and swollen knuckles. After Castle and his Russian harlot had driven off in the car, she'd walked back into the Precinct and gone down to the training area and locker room.

She changed into her exercise gear and then went out and beat the crap out of the heavy bag for an hour until she couldn't tell the rivulets of sweat from tears.

Her imagination replayed the scene from the street time after time: the Russian bitch putting a finger under Castle's chin and bringing her lips to his. Every time, she grunted in pain, both physical and emotional, and slammed her fist into the heavy bag – again and again.

If that wasn't bad enough, her mind replayed scenes from the past years between she and Castle. He'd broken into a burning apartment to find her. He'd pushed her out of the path of a bullet. He'd beaten the hell out of a man who almost shot her. He'd held her, wrapped in his arms, in the freezer. He had been the last one she would have seen when the bomb went off.

Each image had caused a flurry of fists and kicks to the bag until finally she was both physically and emotionally spent. She dragged herself through the shower in the locker room and thought long and hard about what she wanted in life and who she wanted to spend it with.

Royce, Sorenson, Demming and Josh had all played pivotal roles in developing the emotional structure of Kate Beckett. They were like interlinked building blocks that formed the barriers between the private 'Kate Beckett' and the public 'Detective Beckett'. She was comfortable behind those barriers and safe from anything remotely resembling an emotional commitment.

Until that God Damned Castle had shown up. He was a slow and steady trickle of water than had eroded the mortar and weakened her walls. Steadily, relentlessly, effortlessly, he had ferreted out 'Kate Beckett' from her comfortable hiding place and pushed and pulled her until 'Kate Beckett' and 'Detective Beckett' had become indistinguishable from one another.

She was undone. First he'd become a friend. Then a best friend. Then a partner. And then, just when she was beginning to figure it all out, he was gone from her life just as effectively as if he'd burned to death in the fire, frozen to death in the freezer or been blown into atoms by the bomb.

It wasn't fair. He wasn't playing by her rules. He didn't get to make those kinds of decisions. She did. _She_ decided who she let into her life and who she discarded when she was done with them. Not him.

The water in the tub was cold and still she stared at her knuckles. It wasn't fair. He didn't play by her rules. It wasn't fair.

Fair or not, she had to get out of the tub, get dressed and then meet Lanie for drinks. And lies. When Lanie asked her, she'd lie. She would say everything was just fine. She was fine. Here life was fine. She was fine with Castle and his Russian whore. She was fine being free of Josh. She was fine.

* * *

><p>Castle's Summer Home<br>The Hamptons, Long Island

Castle had dozed off on the couch and woke with a start. Shit! It was already 7pm and he hadn't even gone to the market for fresh produce and meat. Well, he hoped his little Russian houseguest like restaurant food because they were going to have to eat out. "Tomorrow", he promised himself, "tomorrow I'll get up early and go do some shopping."

Mentally kicking his ass for falling asleep, he hurried upstairs to the guest bedroom and knocked softly at the door several times. He finally opened the door and turned on a lamp.

Empty! A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind and he turned and walked out of the bedroom and noticed that the door to his room was ajar.

He eased open the door and turned on a table lamp and the sight took his breath away.

Elena was sleeping on her stomach, the covers just barely covering her bottom, and her hair had come loose and spread out and some had draped across her face and he thought he'd never seen anything or anyone so beautiful. Her porcelain skin seemed to glow in the lamplight and contrasted with the dark burgundy sheets. It was obvious that he'd have to be very careful when he woke her. He knew she'd be sensitive about her state of undress. Beckett would have shot him where he stood.

Castle toyed with the idea of just letting her sleep but knew she would wake up hungry. He was starved and he knew she hadn't eaten any breakfast and had been stuck at the precinct all day.

He sat down beside her and gently shook her by the shoulder, resisting the temptation to plant kisses down her spine.

"Hey, sleepy head, we both fell asleep and there's not a damned thing in the house to eat. Throw on some clothes and meet me downstairs and I'll take you out for a quick dinner. I didn't mean to fall asleep but I did."

She rolled over and focused on him and he was rewarded with the most beautiful smile he'd seen on her since meeting her. She either didn't notice or didn't care that the move exposed her breasts and Castle suddenly found the opposite wall very interesting.

"Rick, I'm in your bed so I think looking at me is permitted. I don't wear anything to bed so you might as well get used to it. I had the best sleep in ages but it was lacking something."

"What? If I can get it, I'll get it for you. I want you to be happy, Elena, happy with me."

"I am lacking your arms around me. I am lacking waking up and seeing you as the first thing I see. So, you can easily get what I need, Rick. All you have to do is lie down beside me and take me in your arms and kiss me. That is what I want. Will I go without? Must I wander the streets in search of – "

She screamed when he began tickling her. He stopped after just a few seconds and then leaned down and kissed her sweetly and quickly.

"Get up, Elena Tatiana, and put on clothing and we'll go out to eat and perhaps food shop and then – we will have a long talk over some wine or vodka. I want to hear your story and I want you well fed and liquored up when I do. Please, Elena, clothes. You're killing me here and I'm just a guy after all."

He looked so pathetic that she laughed in delight and got to her knees and hugged him. She was as happy as she could remember being. After a steamy kiss she knew she had him but he stepped back, torn between lying down and making love to her and his common sense.

'_Don't do it! You don't want to scare her off. Be strong, Rick. Go slow. Do it right this time. Make sure this time. No more Merediths, Ginas, or Becketts.'_

"I'll wait for you downstairs. Casual clothes, jeans, whatever. We'll have time for this later. I don't want to rush this, Elena. I don't want to make mistakes and I don't want to get my heart ripped out again. I just got things back where they belong and I'm going to be very careful with this, understand?"

"One more kiss, my darling, one more?" She was pouting but not really. She was thrilled at his attitude but a little worried. Was she moving him too fast? Would she run him away?

"No way, Elena. One touch of your lips, one hand on my face and I'm toast. Please, let's not ruin this – this thing we have between us."

"Okay. But Richard, I am not a patient person. Later we will talk but I have conditions we'll discuss later. For now, unless you have the control of a monk, for I have no self control at all when I look at you, wait for me downstairs."

He started leaving but she stopped him.

"I – this thing between us, this thunderbolt that strikes me whenever we're near, I want this, too. Slow, we will go slow so we don't make mistakes. Just remember what I said, I am not Job and my patience are limited." Her face showed her frustrations and he almost laughed. He'd never said 'no' before to someone he wanted – and God knows he wanted her.

He nodded and left. _'Patience of Job – my ass!'_


	8. Chapter 8

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 8

While Elena got ready to go out to dinner Castle went out to the carriage house garage and checked the fluid levels in the Bronco. He didn't think Elena would like the MG with the tonneau cover and he was too lazy to remove and fold it and then put up the top. The Bronco would do fine.

When he walked in through the kitchen Elena was at the island making a list.

"I do not want someone else's dinner tonight. We will go shop and I will cook for you. Tomorrow, if we are still speaking to one another, you may make me breakfast and then burn meat on the grill. Now, do you have a supermarket or are all these ingredients to be gotten from different merchants?"

Castle took the list form her hand and looked it over and then took the pen and walked over to the pantry. He pulled open the turnstile shelving unit and spun it around slowly checking something off the list each time he found a match.

"Okay. We're ready to go. Since you insist on cooking, and I don't doubt you can, it's just that you're my guest for the weekend, we'll hit the supermarket for your stuff and then if it's not too late, the butcher's for my meat otherwise I'll just call and have it delivered. We have a list. Let's go."

When they walked into the carriage house Elena stopped and then walked over to Castle's _other_ pride and joy, a 1982 Studebaker Avanti II.

"Oh, Rick, I must take a drive in this, please? Tomorrow you will drive us around the country roads and go very fast, please?"

"Do you drive, Elena?" He had no idea if Russian cops were required to know how to drive and he had the glimmer of an idea percolating in the back of his head.

"Yes, but it is a long time since I have driven, long before I came to America. I can drive a standard shift though. Not many Americans can claim that talent. Everything here is lazy. Automatic windows, automatic transmissions, automatic this and that. Even some of your airplanes are automatic now."

"Enough of the political rhetoric, Comrade Antenenko. You answered the question so you get to drive tonight." He threw her the keys and saw the fleeting fear that was quickly replaced by determination.

"I will drive you around like you are some damned Boyar? Nyet!" She tossed back the keys and got into the passenger side of the Bronco.

They drove to the supermarket in relative silence. Elena seemed fascinated by the well-lit landscapes along the road. _'Don't they have lights in Russia?'_

The supermarket was a huge success with Elena. First she pushed the cart along each aisle instructing Rick to 'get 2 of those and one of that one' and then she gave him a sultry look and told him 'remain here and guard our goods' and disappeared for twenty minutes before reappearing with a sealed plastic bag with a receipt attached indicating she'd paid for her purchases.

"Hey, you're my guest this weekend. Your money is no good here. Don't do that again, Elena. I'm the host. If you need something, I'll provide it."

"I bought this for you, Rick, as a gift. I couldn't expect you to pay for your own present, could I?" She leaned over and kissed his cheek and then motioned him to 'come along' like some regal queen. He loved it.

He loaded the groceries into the rear of the Bronco and then got into the passenger seat and waited. And waited. Elena finally got into the truck and held out her hand and demanded "Keys, please; I need keys if I am to drive".

It had taken Castle nearly 30 minutes to reach the market driving at posted speeds but Elena – she seemed to think that the speed limit signs were suggestions and they arrived back at Castle's place in 16 minutes.

"Rick, I love this truck. It is so easy to drive. And the way it holds the road during the turns and how easily it corrects itself in a drifting turn – you must let me drive your what-do-you-call-it? Avanti. Yes. Avanti."

Rick practically crawled out of the Bronco. He couldn't ever remember being scared when any one else drove – except Alexis and that was more of a parental thing.

He would need to rethink his plans for driving for the next few months. His beloved MG was definitely off limits. The pour little 4-cylinder engine would shatter within moments of her getting behind the wheel. His Avanti was made of far sturdier stuff and he'd pegged the speedometer a time or two when he and Gina had been married and she'd driven him out of his home with her bitter complaints about almost everything.

The next time they came up for a weekend he'd let her take out the Avanti but not before. He didn't think his heart could take two consecutive stressful events at his age.

Still, the grin on his face belied the looseness of his bowels. He hadn't even dreamed that a Ford Bronco could actually _accelerate_ into a turn on two wheels. She was a very competent although crazy driver.

"Rick, you look pale. Are you alright?" Her grin matched his but for different reasons. He trusted her with his life. Tonight they would see if that trust extended to his heart.

"Yeah. Just waiting for the rest of my body to stop moving. You drive like that back home? Good thing you're a cop. No tickets."

She disappeared into the living room while he brought in the groceries. She came back with two glasses that he knew were filled with Vodka and she handed him one and then clinked their glasses and whispered, "Na zdrovye, Вы моя любовь"

She knocked back the glass and smiled at him. She knew he was curious about what she'd said but that would have to wait. "Another, Rick? Driving your truck has made me thirsty for something to calm my nerves."

"No, I think one of these is enough for a while. Cook, woman, and I'll watch you and add your secrets to my own." He teased her, testing how far he could go before she shut him up.

"I don't want there to be secrets between us. There is already enough doubt and distrust in your eyes. Come, watch me turn this collection of processed food into something you will only know once in your life."

He felt a flash of sudden sadness. She would only cook for him once. Translation: this was a one-time thing. So much for her promises of going slow and seeing where it would take them. She'd apparently looked ahead and already decided.

"Hey, Castle – you think too much and I do not weigh my words enough. Blame it on the Vodka. Everything gets blamed on Vodka. I meant only that the _first taste_ of true Russian cooking can never be repeated. I did not mean it would be the only time I would cook for you."

He was surprised by her insight. He did think too much, analyze too much, put unnecessary weight on words. He'd been told that a thousand times in the past. Maybe now it would finally sink in.

"How did I know? Your eyes, Rick. Windows of the soul, right?" She'd somehow moved and was so close to him that he was startled to feel her breath on his face.

She kissed the corner of his mouth and chuckled when he smiled. He was so complex and yet so simple. Feed him, love him and be loyal to him and everything else would simply fall into place.

* * *

><p>Kate &amp; Lanie – Girls' Night In<p>

"Lanie, I'm just so damned disappointed in him. He quit! Just like that. And he practically swooned when that Russian – she swallowed what she was going to say " – woman, yeah, woman – asked him out. She asked _him out! _And he took her to Montoya's and introduced her to Vic. On a first date! We were together two years before he took me and then he didn't think enough of me to introduce me to the owner! I am so angry with him."

"Kate, stop for just a second and listen to yourself. Let's take it from the top, shall we? First, he quit because he almost died. No fault there. It's not his job and he's got a family to think about. Second, she asked him out? So what! Third, you and writer monkey were _never_ together so when he took you to Montoya's it was as a friend thing, not a date. You have no right to be angry with him. Fourth and finally, you're with Josh the World Saver. What's really bugging you?"

"She came in this morning and was blasting away at targets on the range. I figured she was pissed at Castle so I asked her about 'date night'. The more she talked about it, the angrier she got. I figured he hit on her or made a move or something but no! _**She **_put the move on _him_, _**she**_ kissed him in a bar and then when he dropped her off at her hotel, she _**asked him up**__!_"

"So why was she mad? Was he a disappointment in the sack?" Lanie held up a rigid finger and made it wilt and snickered.

"She was mad because, because, damn him, he told her _**no!**_"

Lanie rolled her eyes and started to talk but Kate cut her off.

"This morning she came in looking like a million bucks in casual clothes and we finished up and walked out together. She had a bag and when we walked out, there he was, leaning against a limo with his arms crossed and looking down like he was in trouble and do you know what that Commie Bitch did? Huh? Do ya?"

"No, but you're gonna tell me, right?" Lanie was almost in stitches at Kate's histrionics.

"She slithered over and put a finger under his chin, made him look her dead in her eyes and then she kissed him! With tongue! In front of me! He gave me the strangest look and then he took her bag and helped her into the limo. He took her to the house in _The Damned Hamptons, _Lanie, for the weekend. He took her…"

"Let me remind you – Josh, leather pants and jacket, the guy you're doing the nasty with, the guy you're practically living with, the guy you picked up over the summer and never told anyone about, the guy you picked over Castle? Him? You got a lot of nerve getting' down on Castle when you're hooked up, getting' laid when _you _decide, and ignoring a man who - ! Kate, I love ya to death, ya know that, but you are the most self-centered woman I've evah known. I've said my piece and I'm goin' to drink my drink and go find Javi. Yeah, Javier Esposito. And I won't be sendin' him no conflictin' messages. He damn well knows what I want and who I want givin' it to me."

In small voice Kate said, "I broke up with Josh yesterday, before Castle showed up. It's over and has been for a while. I just didn't want to admit that I'd made a mistake in choosing him."

"Well, that's a positive step. Now what else are you goin' admit to so we can fix this emotional shit storm you've created?" Lanie sat back down and prepared to map out a battle strategy.

"I assume we're talking about retaking the Castle, right? A siege. A long drawn-out siege or a quick surgical strike that takes out the queen and seizes the Castle?"

* * *

><p>Castle's Summer Home<br>The Hamptons, Long Island

"You know, Rick, this is by far the finest _Dacha_ I could ever imagine. The Czars would be envious. So, talk to me. How was the meal? Good?"

"That was cabbage? Seriously? And ham and what were those little greenish things?"

"Did you like it? Yes or no, please. Did you like it?"

"Da, I liked it very much. I have to get up and walk this off. Would you like to accompany me to the beach and walk? I have a thick parka that will keep you warm if the wind picks up. Please?"

* * *

><p>The Beach<p>

"This is not like the beaches I have been to in Russia but much like the ones I've seen in the movies. I would like, some day, to go to Bermuda and see the pink sand beaches and then to Hawaii to see the black sand on the islands. The beaches on the Black Sea are pebbles left from the glaciers. And the water is not warm at all even in high summer."

The were walking arm in arm and she was prattling on about everything. He really liked the sound of her voice. He felt she could read the Tax Code and make it sound exciting.

"Tell me about Alexis, Rick. Does she favor you or the woman who left you and her daughter for another man?" She was deliberately blunt, wanting to see if he felt hatred or scorn for his runaway wife.

"She looks like her mother, thank God, but she's smart, intelligent, kind with a delightful sense of humor. She's raised me into the man I am today. I would be lost without her and soon I will be. She's going off to college and it will be the longest we've been apart since she was born."

"You are a good man and a good father. One can hear it in your voice and in your eyes when you speak of her. She will bring fame and honor to your house, Richard Castle, perhaps becoming a famous writer herself or an actress like her grandmother. Whatever she does, she will make you proud, I know it."

"I just want her to be happy at whatever she does. Her mother, well, the less said the better. I loved her and I still do but not as a man for a woman, more as a father to the mother of his daughter. There's a difference but I can't really explain it."

"That is as it should be. And about wife #2? How do you feel about her?"

"Are we going to ever get to talk about you, Elena? Okay, Gina. Blonde, beautiful, sexy, ambitious, intelligent, intellectually dishonest, conniving, blood-sucking, never satisfied, always critical, never has enough and never met a man she wouldn't sleep with if he could help her career. She is incapable of loving someone for more than a year. She told me that herself when she left me for a 'better offer'. Mistake #2."

Her sudden laughter startled him. "What? It's an honest description of her."

"You describe her like an item for sale. Good points, bad points. Like a very short infomercial. You are good with words, Rick. I am not so good with words. Let's go back and I'll let you open your present and then I want to have a long soak and then we will talk about Elena Tatiana, lover with Richard Castle. Come, I am freezing my asses off."

"Ass, Elena, freezing you ass off. You only have one ass."

"Oh, yes, buttocks, I am freezing my buttocks off."

"Hurry, they're one of your best features." He snickered and then laughed when she socked him in the arm. He stooped and threw her over his shoulder and swatted her fanny a few times.

She rattled off the insults of the 1950s.

"Cossack! Capitalist swine! Exploiter of the masses! Bourgeousie! Put me down, Rick!"

"The Cold War is over and we are all one big happy family now, Comrade Inspector!"

"Please put me down. I'm sorry, Comrade Writer."

"Better." The kiss was slow and soon burned away the cold either was feeling. He held her closely and breathed in the smell of her hair mixed with the seashore.

"Come, Rick. Let us soak our bones and I'll tell you all about me. It's cold and I want to get very warm with you." The look on her face said something else.

"What about my present, Elena? You said I could open it – "

"Shhh. It is waterproof." She chuckled evilly and the sound went right to Castle's groin. He was in big trouble and had no idea what to expect.

'_What the hell could she buy in a grocery store that could possibly make her laugh in such a lewd and sexy way?'_

_He couldn't wait to find out. _


	9. Chapter 9

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 9

Castle's Summer Home  
>The Hamptons, Long Island<p>

He sent Elena up to soak in her tub of near-boiling water (her preference, or so she said) while he cleaned up the disaster she'd made in the kitchen. The food had been superb, a total surprise but the mess she left – wow!

Wiping down the granite countertops was the last step in his routine. He wasn't a neat freak, he just didn't like coming down in the morning to clutter left from the previous night. He turned on the dishwasher and then walked into the living room and poured two large glasses of Vodka and set the alarms and went upstairs.

Castle knocked lightly at the partially closed bathroom door and pushed it open when she said 'it's about time. I need your assistance. Open your present and bring it and yourself over here.'

He tore open the plastic bag, imagining all kinds of weird things, and laughed. Inside was a rubber duck floating bath toy and a woman's plastic handled razor and a 'specially-formulated shaving crème just for women' or so the label read.

"Elena, you do know that I'm 40 years old, right?" He squeezed the rubber toy and it rewarded him with a authentic-sounding 'quack'. She started with her trademarked snicker that segued into an escalating series of giggles, chuckles and finally, full laughs.

"Here. Vodka. Blame it on the Vodka, right?" All he could see was her head above the bubbles, her hair twisted up into some loose arrangement on top, out of the water. She'd raided his linen closet and found bubble bath and used it. He was surprised and disappointed.

"Come. Remove your clothes and join me. It is large enough for 3 or 4 to be comfortable. Is this where you conduct your orgies that I've heard about?" She snickered again and took a healthy sip from her glass.

"No. We usually use the hot tub. That way no one is overlooked." He tried to be serious but failed.

"Rick, I want you – I want you to please shave my legs. It is difficult for me to reach some spots and I have not waxed since activating my mission and I feel like an ape. Please?"

"I'll be right back." He turned and left the bathroom and he heard Elena call to him, "Where are you going, Rick Castle?"

His reply spoke volumes. "To get another bottle," he replied. He stopped just inside his bedroom and looked down at his hands and noticed a slight tremor. His imagination provided him with a flash of a scantily-clad Elena, bare-legged – and covered with little bits of toilet tissue each place he'd nicked her.

'_You've faced nasty divorce lawyers – twice - shootings, freezings and bombs. Running several strands of razor sharp steel across the smooth and bare thighs of a woman who wants you should be a snap, a cinch, a slam-dunk, a grand slam, a Hail Mary, a walk in the park, a – ENOUGH – just get on with it!'_

Sometimes even his subconscious rebelled against his festinating.

* * *

><p>Kate &amp; Lanie – Girls' Night In [<em>Continued<em>]

"Let's recap what we know so far, Kate." Lanie wasn't exactly thrilled with all this but was putting on a good front hoping to coax Kate to face some harsh realities confronting her.

"He's with her right now, at his place, and they're probably naked and sweaty and going at it like rabbits. Probably going for a third or", Kate glanced at her father's watch, "or a fourth round."

Lanie glared at Kate with her time-tested 'I'm gonna smack you' look.

"That's not quite the picture I was hoping for. I meant, let's analyze the situation and examine why it exists and what can be done to improve it to your benefit. You do want Castle in your life, in your bed, right? It's not just a 'she has him so I want him' thing? 'Cause if it is, I'm going to find Esposito."

"Yes. I want him in my life and all that implies. I need him, Lanie, not just want him. He's my other half. He's strong where I'm weak and we complement each other. He _has_ to be part of my life. We're partners."

"You're sure it's just not a jealousy thing? You made him feel small and insignificant and now he's found someone who thinks he hung the moon and seems to be taking your place. See what I mean? He was all those things you said while he was sitting beside you at the Precinct so why didn't you do anything about it then or were you just using him to 'complete' yourself?"

"Yes, I'm jealous! Wouldn't you be? We've been together three years and she's only been here what, a damned day, and they're off together for the weekend." She, of course, was blissfully ignorant of the facts of the couple's earlier meeting and fascination with one another for the month afterwards.

Lanie rolled her brown eyes and then fixed Kate with a glare. "You were NOT together in the way most people use the word. You worked together. You spent time together on cases and occasionally with him at the loft but you never had an acknowledged emotional relationship. That is a fact, Kate, and you ignored Castle in an emotional way. You have never been together with Rick, never. He's always been on the outside."

"Rick? Since when do you refer to Castle as anything other than 'WriterBoy, WriterMonkey, Castle', should I go on?"

"I try always to call him Rick or Castle when we interface at work. It's only when his back is turned that I use those other terms. Thinking out it, that's kinda hypocritical of me or at least unfair. The guys do it as a man-thing indicating good-natured humor. You do it as a dig, a way of diminishing him in your eyes and in those around you. I think I'm gonna stop saying that."

"Well, since he's no longer my annoying shadow…"

"See? That's exactly what I mean. Words mean something and to a man like Castle who makes his living using them, what you say hurts him more than it would others because he sees the meaning behind the word."

"Oh, please…"

"If he's annoying, why are we here instead of out in the world of single men, trying to find and hook up with Mr. Right – or in your case, 'Mr. Right Now But It's Only Temporary'?"

"But Lanie – "

Lanie picked up her drink and downed it and then turned to Kate. "Kate, that's it. You're a walking poster child for denial, for emotional constipation, for pig-headedness. I'm out of here. This is a waste of my time and I'm going to find Javier and show him the exact opposite of what we're talking about here. That boy is nevah gonna get the smile off his face. You call me when your mind is right but not until, Kate Beckett."

Kate was confused. _'What the hell just happened? I'm not emotionally stunted, and I don't demean him to make myself feel better. Do I?'_

* * *

><p>Castle's Summer Home<br>The Hamptons, Long Island

"Elena, I don't know if this is such a good idea. What if I cut you?" _'What if I lose all self-control? What happened to 'going slowly'?'_

"You mean 'what if you do not stay the gentleman that you are and cast off the promise to 'go it slow?' Correct?" She had a strange smile on her face and then she sighed.

"Fine. Leave the razor and the crème and go do something for a little while. I cannot believe you won't help me. Of all the men I meet in America, I end up in the tub with the only one…never mind. I will do it myself. Leave, please. I do not want you to see me struggling."

He didn't understand what she meant but he did hear the embarrassment in her voice and it moved him to act.

His clothes were in a messy pile on the tile floor and he eased himself down into the very hot water. "I didn't know the water could get this damned hot!"

"Quit being a baby. Your skin will not bubble and slip off the bone like a chicken in the pot. Now, please sit down and begin. This is very much the right time to 'go slowly'."

Castle was thinking exactly the opposite. _Get her shaved and then get out of the tub. Do not think, just make the razor – just make the razor glide over those smooth thighs…arghhh…_

She lifted her right leg and pointed a surprisingly dainty foot at his face and said, "Begin please. Use the gel and do not worry so much, my darling man, if you nick me. I have been through worse. Please. Begin."

His hand encircled her ankle easily and for just a brief second he had an image of 'Olga on the Collective' standing by her beloved tractor – Olga who weighed almost as much as her tractor – big feet, big bones, just big.

"What is it, Rick? Is something wrong?" She knew it. She'd pushed him too hard, too quickly, and now her chance was gone.

"N – No. I just – your ankle is so feminine and almost – dainty but your calves are well muscled. I was just noticing."

"I trained in classical ballet with a subordinate company of the Bolshoi until I was 17. I am well conditioned, and will not break, Rick. Now, please continue before the water gets cold and icebergs appear."

The woman was a mass of contradictions. He was thoroughly lost and he knew it.

It was a big tub. He moved up in the tub and sat tailor-fashion and placed an ankle in the crook of his neck and smoothed the gel on her calf. Her skin felt like silk and he felt no evidence of 'nubs or stubs', just a lot of smooth silken skin. She shivered.

"Cold?"

"No."

Rick drew the razor slowly from the back of her knee down to her ankle and then repeated the process until one leg was done. He washed off the remaining gel and then repeated the process with the other leg.

"There. All done."

She snorted and fixed him with a playful glare. "Oh, please, Rick, surely you know that hair grows on the thighs also. Do you wish me to stand or…"

"Quit being a tease, Elena. You have no idea how hard – Whoa!" Her foot had slipped along the bottom of the tub and run up the inside of his thigh.

"I think I do, Rick. So stand or should I sit on the side of the tub? Hmmm?"


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry for the foot-dragging but I've been othewise occupied. House guests who have overstayed their welcome.

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 10

Castle's Summer Home  
>The Hamptons, Long Island<p>

**Previously** - _She snorted and fixed him with a playful glare. "Oh, please, Rick, surely you know that hair grows on the thighs also. Do you wish me to stand or…"_

"I want you to quit playing mind games and tell me what you're doing here – what _we're_ doing here? And I don't mean in this bathtub. I meet you as 'Katya' in Montauk and again in the city as Inspector Antonenko of the Moscow Police. Get out, get dried off and explain things, Elena. Use small words and simple sentences since I am obviously a fool in your eyes."

The sudden change caught her off guard and the look on her face reminded him briefly of Gina when he'd confronted her with her adultery. Shock and dismay.

"Rick, it is not what you think. Montauk was Fate but meeting you at the 12th Precinct was a gift from God. I _am_ Elena Antonenko and I am a senior inspector of the Moscow Police. Like your Beckett, I work mostly with homicides. In Montauk I was Katya Karpov, Russian illegal émigré on the run from the Brodsky Troika Family in Brighton Beach."

"Go on. Don't stop now. This is fascinating." His eyes were cold and Elena knew that whatever bond there was between them might shatter because she had tried to be a police officer first and a woman second in her plotting.

She stood up and stepped out of the tub and grabbed a large towel from the heated rack and covered herself. "Look, I tried to tell you, I promised to tell you but only when we were – I did not want you to become as you are right now. This is a disaster. _I _am a disaster."

"You were undercover when I met you in Montauk – is that what you're trying to say?" He couldn't figure out where this was headed and he didn't like not being able to do that.

"I will explain everything to you but I want your promise that you will hear me out before judging me. If you cannot, then drive me back to the city in the morning and go on about your business and forget Katya and Elena as I will try and forget about you. Promise me this, Rick."

"Only if you start at the very beginning. I want to know about _Elena_ the person and how she came to be here with me. If you can do that then I can listen to your explanation; otherwise you can get dressed and we'll leave right now."

"Yes. Get dry and then come to me and I will tell you all there is to know. You already know more about me than you remember. Have you forgotten me so easily, иноплеменник господина Rick?" Perhaps she could salvage something of them from all this mess.

He turned white as the implications of her words hit him squarely in the chest. He wracked his brain for context. Ah!

"Did you just call me something dirty in Russian, Little Miss?"

She couldn't help herself. She threw herself at him and clung to him. "You remembered! After all these years, you remembered!"

"You're not easy to forget, and yet you are – different, Elena. Your hair – "

"Dyed for my mission. And yes, I now have breasts as you have already noticed. It has been 15 years, Rick and I have never forgotten my 'Mister Foreigner'. You are my first love, Rick, and your books were all I had of you."

"I was 25 and I left when Meredith called and told me she was nearly 3 months pregnant with Alexis and thinking of an abortion. You were a 19 year old girl in a hospital bed and then a wheelchair with a broken leg and a broken heart. How is your Father? And – wait, _Antonenko_? You're married?"

"I couldn't wait for you forever, could I?" She was teasing him, enjoying his reactions and overjoyed that he remembered her.

She felt him stiffen and prepare to shove her away. He was always so damned proper. She hurried on with her explanation, still praying to salvage something of them from this mess she'd created.

"No, my darling Mister Foreigner, I have not married. It is my mother's maiden name that my father has insisted I use to 'avoid conflict of interest and charges of nepotism'. He is still very much the political bureaucrat.

"How is he? I still send him first editions of all my books. Did he throw them away like he threatened?"

"He was pissed at you for killing off Derek but he is enamored of your new Nikki Heat. She is so much like a classic Russian hero." She pronounced it ROSHun, losing her accent for a moment to make her point.

"Your novels have a place of honor in his library but below his favorite American pulp fiction writer, James Patterson." She knew this would get him where it hurt – his pride.

"Everyone's a critic nowadays – even the Minister of the _Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii."_

"Oh, Rick, your accent is so terrible. But come, I will keep my promise if you will keep yours."

"Perhaps downstairs on the couch would be more appropriate? And clothes, we must have clothes."

"No. You promised and I hold you to it. I will not assault you – unless you fail to listen carefully. You – the bed – and me, in that order. Come. It is chilly and your manhood is suffering." She loved zinging him. All men were sensitive about their 'stuff'.

"Not fair! In that case Inspector Antonenko, move your asses."

"Buttocks, Rick. I can learn."

"Why didn't you say something in Montauk? You acted as if you didn't know me."

"I was under my cover and besides, I read that you and this Nikki Heat were a couple and I did not want to deal with it, okay? I am a woman and I have reasons a man would never understand."

"And yet two months later you pop up in the 12th Precinct on the same day Roy decides I have to fill out paperwork in person. Is that the smell of a conspiracy?"

"You are asking questions already and I have not even begun. You have not listened to anything I asked you to do."

"Okay. Lips zipped."

* * *

><p>She crawled up into his bed giving him an excellent display of her 'asses' and then dove under the thick comforter with an exaggerated 'Brrr'. "Come, remember your promise…and your dwindling manhood." She snickered and he followed her and covered himself while staying as far away from her as he could get. Role reversal from his normal ploys. The two faced each other and Elena wiggled her way over until she was flush against him and said simply "Arms, Rick, in your arms was our deal."<p>

Castle tried to blank his mind, to cut it off from external stimuli and open it up to listen to and analyze everything Elena said. He would examine each statement and see if it 'fit' with what he knew and then as more 'statements' filled his mind, whether they formed a coherent whole or whether they were carefully constructed lies. The plot – as his mentor, critic, and competition Patterson would say – was the key to 'believability'.

"I have been in your country 7 months already before I saw you in Montauk. And yes, I was under my cover there as you already said. I did not acknowledge you there for two reasons – I did not want to deal with you and second, I heard you were with your 'muse', Detective Beckett. I was angry with you I suppose. A schoolgirl's fantasy crushed into dust and carried away on the wind. But you were still you. You always cared for those around you and I remember you doing things for no personal gain."

"Montauk came later, Elena. Put things in order. Start with how or why you became a cop. I never thought that Alexsandr Bortnikov would ever allow his only child to enter the dark world of police work. You know how he felt about his job and it's effects on you and your mother."

"Shhh. Let me tell it as I will. Context will come later. Two years ago, a special unit was formed to pursue reports of Russian girls being lured into prostitution by companies promising wages, lodging and work in foreign countries. Some were straight forward firms performing 'match making' for men in Europe and North America who were searching for 'traditional wives'. You know, mail order brides from Russia. I am sure you have seen the web sites, Rick."

He nodded. He'd even thought once or twice about using such services – as a plot device. After Gina had left him with a second open heart surgery he'd sworn never again to be involved with a 'professional' career woman.

"Some were not so straight forward. The task force discovered the Brodsky Troika's operation was using several companies as fronts for hiring young girls to be 'models' and others as 'domestics' in Europe and North America. Girls were hired and 'trained' and then sent to jobs outside the country. Parents began to worry when they never heard from their children and they came to the police, of course."

"Go on. I'm with you so far."

"The companies were coming and going too fast to keep track of. The task force put young female officers into them as 'clients' and several were found out and either disappeared or were murdered. The Troika was powerful and had fingers in all our pies. They corrupted entire units with bribes or threats and soon the task force became nothing more that a sham."

"Okay. But why not just arrest the leaders of this Troika?"

"It was not so simple when members were government officials and powerful businessmen with new wealth and old ways and with no direct connections. It was called the Brodski Troika after the region it started in. No one could find the head of the snake until 2007 when ordinary police officers investigated a murder and found witnesses and leads that didn't disappear in the night. They had names and locations at last. My father – my father got threats against our family. He was much lower on the ranks but it was his section, Homicide Investigations, that had found the path to the leadership."

"Elena, calm down. We can stop for now. You can nap. I'm not going to leave you. At least let me fetch the bottle and glasses. I think we both need a drink before you go on." He knew where this was headed. He had kept up with his friend Alexsandr Bortnikov's career and they had corresponded back and forth many times during that period and had become fast friends despite the age difference.

"Da. Yeah. I think that is a good idea. This is hard for me. I joined the FSB and chose the Metropolitan Police against my father's wishes. He did not want me in such work. My mother supported me and well, you know how mothers can be. It was she who convinced him to let me join if I used her maiden name. Politics still dictated much and neither of my parents wanted me subjected to politics. The was in 2004."

"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, Elena. Keep my spot warm." He walked quickly into the bathroom and retrieved the two glasses and the full bottle of Vodka. It was chilly in the room but he ignored it. He slipped back into the bed and sat up, drawing her up beside him propped against the pillows and headboard.

"So, you joined the police force at a time when this Troika thing was heating up?"

"Yes. There were several killings of officers and sometimes a family member or entire families. The squad that handled the case that opened the window had to relocate to another city their families. It was hard. My father got a body guard and my mother was told to stay home and not practice for a while. Of course she refused. She had patients who needed her skills. I walk, run and dance today because of her as you well know, Rick."

She shifted until she was on her side, spooned against him. She took his hand and placed the palm on her thigh and smoothed it over from hip to knee.

"Hardly a scar. You know how bad the leg was. Did you think I would ever stand let alone walk or run? She was a miracle worker and I was one of her miracles. I can dance today although I avoid using the leg for some routines."

"I know you know that they killed my mother. We will skip that part and get to the now of the story."

"Good. Drink up and then continue. I have a feeling this is going to get harder and harder to say. What happened next?"

"I got assigned and worked in Homicide units all throughout the city. By now my father was 'upstairs' and working outside of the Moscow area. It made things easier. I get away from the story. We began to see patterns and one thing led to another and we found little fish and they led us to bigger fish. Soon we had a map of the Troika and names and faces. We made arrests, got convictions and executions. Progress. Then they shifted tactics and we were back at the opening gambit of the game. They disappeared."

"They came here, didn't they? To North America?"

"Yes, to America and Canada. The faster we found 'companies' the quicker they closed and moved on. Soon even the legitimate companies became infiltrated and more and more girls got sucked in as our economy got worse."

"So you followed the leads, didn't you? You became 'one of the girls', didn't you? Oh, Elena, why throw your life away on such a – "

"How could I not? They killed my mother. They killed my friends. They came after us again and again and they were ruthless. I had no choice."

"So you came here?"

"Rick, I became Katya Karpov from Pilsov. I changed my eye color, my hair, my speech, everything. I _became_ her. It was easy. They took me in and promised me a career in foreign modeling. I gushed and was so grateful. It fooled them. I think it fooled me, too. When my father found out, he was livid but could do nothing. I left for Canada a few days later and learned that the police had raided the Moscow operation and arrested everyone."

She talked about flying to Montreal, being 'met' by a chaperone and driven with six other 'modeling candidates' across the border into Vermont. Customs and Immigration agents had been bribed. The came to New York and then finally to, of all places, Staten Island.

"We were given physicals and blood tests and then sent to apartment buildings all over Staten Island. Some girls went into 'domestic work' for members of the Troika but others, like me, were made to go on dates with men. That is how I know about the Moscow Nights and your friend Andrei Sumintova. I was there many nights. Never with him, Rick, but with others. I was so ashamed but I was getting names and soon I would go home and your FBI and police would be involved."

"Elena, is Andrei involved? Is he a Brodski Troika _apparatchik_?"

"Indirectly. Girls either go there to 'connect' or to get drugs or bring their 'dates' there. I never did drugs except for the final time and then I – wait, please. Another drink. Oh, Rick, I am so ashamed of myself. No matter the intentions, I am a whore. I am still here because my father does not want me back. He told me so. He has disowned me and that is why the FBI and Homeland Security positions have become 'available' – and only to me."

"Elena Tatiana, I will always 'want' you, surely you see that?"

"It is dark. Oh, yes, I can 'feel' that. But when the truth comes out and it will, I will be known as a whore no matter what good came of it and you will be laughed at. It is why I wanted you – was it only earlier today? – when I awoke in your bed. One time, to be loved and still thought of as an innocent - "

"No more. Enough. I don't care what happened. You are my Little Miss all grown up. I've learned not to question life's little surprises. I just take what comes as the gift it is. You are a gift to me."

"So you say now. But when it comes out, no. How can I move again 'in polite society'. It is the price for my mother's justice and, Rick, I paid it willingly. Let's go back to the city and you can get back to your life. 'Katya' is explained and I am done. Please, Castle."

No more Rick. No more Mister Foreigner. He was Castle now. She'd pulled away.

He pulled her closer so that he could whisper in her ear and know she heard him. "You and I have something. Why are you so quick to toss it on the dung heap? I felt it again in Montauk and so did you. Do not deny it, Elena. You have said it enough. This sad tale hardly changes anything in my eyes except to make you more heroic and selfless. You are an incredible woman and a gift I shall always cherish. Stay with me. Do your job but stay. Please?"

"For now, yes. I will stay."

"Good. You can check out of that hotel and move in with us. Alexis has been raised on 'tales of Elena' and my Mother has her own place and her own world but she will recognize a kindred spirit. If you have no family to return to, stay with me and become my family, please? You can have your own room and come and go as you please, Little Miss, just stay."

"What if – what if I do not want my own room, Rick?"


	11. Chapter 11

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 11

Castle's Summer Home  
>The Hamptons, Long Island<br>Sunday morning, 6am

"Rick, wake up. I have made coffee and I want to return to the city now and move in with my rich Mister Foreigner and learn how to be a properly 'kept woman'."

Castle mumbled something rude and rolled over into the space she'd left but it was already cold. Sighing and wondering if this was a mistake or a gift from the Fates, he struggled with the sheets that had become wrapped around his legs during the night. God, she certainly had been enthusiastic.

"Rule #1 in the handbook: Do not awaken the sleeper without a kiss and coffee. Got it, Little Miss?"

"I shall try and remember, Rick, but my mind is on other things. Last night was wonderful and I look forward to many more. Now, up and get at them, Rick. We have much to do and I want to start quickly. Shall I call the Master's car service?" She was really into the role.

"Nah, I thought you might need transportation in the city from time to time so I thought we'd take the…"

"Oh, Rick! I love you so much more now. I will take good care of the Avanti and treat it with lambskin gloves. You are so good to me…"

"I was thinking along the lines of the Bronco, Elena. It's not so likely to attract attention, it is solid steel and I'd feel safer if you drove it. Please? You can drive the Avanti the next time we're up here. Promise."

She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and Rick kissed it lightly knowing she was putting him on. "Okay. But this is hardly the manner in which one keeps a 'kept' woman satisfactorily, Castle. But I understand your logic and it's okay – for now."

"Good. Let me get up and dressed and grab something to eat and then we'll head back to the city."

"I have cooked for you. Dress and then eat. Coffee is ready. I must learn to properly feed and care for you, Rick. Especially if I am to enjoy nights like last night."

Castle smiled but it froze on his face but thankfully she didn't notice. He had heard her story and asked questions, some of which were hurtful to her and others that opened up new lines of thought. She had finally sighed, kissed him passionately and then preceded to show him just why he had to stay physically fit.

* * *

><p>LIE [Long Island Expressway]<br>8am

He let her drive, of course. He trusted her driving. She was careful and obeyed all the rules and they'd chatted quietly, each feeling out the other for areas of conflict. It hadn't taken long to find a sensitive area. Her father.

"Elena, I am going to call your father when we get home and have a long talk with the old man. I want him to know we are together and that I will be responsible for you and your safety. I don't want him thinking you're shacking up with some guy you met on the job."

"Richard Alexsandr Castle – you will do no such thing. What happened between my father and me is a family matter and closed to outsiders. He disowned me and I have paid him the same compliment. I have no father, no mother, just you. I am happy with it as I hope you are." She'd pronounced his name in the Russian manner and it was a clear indicator of her mood – prickly.

Castle made a mental note to buy her a cell phone. He wanted to be able to help her should she call and need it. He knew that with Elena he had to be very careful in picking which battle to fight and which to run from and which to simply ignore in the future. This was one that he felt should be addressed but perhaps not this moment. She did carry a gun, after all.

"You are angry now, Richard. Don't be. I am happy and I want you to be happy. Tomorrow I will pin your Detective Beckett with details of our love making, our dinner and our decision to shack up, yes?"

"It's 'needle' not 'pin', Elena, and Beckett is your playground so far as I'm concerned. I don't want to have to come and peel her off you so be careful. She is a formidable opponent although you can take her. Just stay off the sparring mat. She is deadly serious when she spars although she might pity you for your poor choice in lovers."

"She made her choice and now she has to sleep alone without ever knowing the joys of being with you. Enough of Beckett and her poor judgment. How are you going to explain me to Alexis?"

"Alexis has been raised on stories of my Russian .Little Miss.. From the age of 3 she wanted to dance in the Bolshoi and was heartbroken when I told her she had to be a Russian to do it. So she took ballet and gymnastics here and finally lost interest when she was 14 or so and discovered boys I think. She's going to be thrilled to meet you."

"And if she finds out we're intimate?" She had a streak of Russian prude in her a mile wide sometimes and a concern for the image of Castle with his daughter.

"Only if you deny it. Alexis prides honesty and loyalty above all else. Don't lie to her, ever, and you'll never have to worry about her. Just – just be careful what truths you share. I'd rather she thought her father was still her knight in shining armor and not some old man wrapped in tin foil."

Elena visualized Castle in armor and smiled but then chortled when her mind encased him in aluminum foil like a chicken for the oven.

"And Beckett? Do I owe her the same truthfulness?"

"I told you, she is your problem to deal with."

"So you said."

The rest of the drive was quiet and only broken by asking for and getting directions. Each was lost in their own thoughts and each would have been surprised to find out each had the same thoughts.

* * *

><p>Elena parked the Bronco easily in one of Castle's three reserved spots and they took the elevator to the lobby where Castle introduced her to the weekend doorman and got her keys to the elevator and the loft.<p>

"Here. It's official. You now are the owner of keys to my Castle." He smiled at the play on words.

"I prefer to think of them as keys to my new home. Thank you, Rick, for having faith in me and for not forgetting me and for not abandoning me. You are forgiven for the Moscow dacha. You had to leave and I understand now more fully why because I'm no longer 18. I am glad I waited."

"Waited?" He wasn't sure what she meant.

"Yes. I knew we would be together someday even if you never came back. I would find you and I have. Does the CIA know that their special asset is in contact with a Godless Communist?"

"It was the State Department's Commercial Intel section, not the CIA. I'll file a contact report, but Elena, those days are over. They just used me for my ability to travel without need of a cover. I was not a spy, no matter what you believed. I just took note of things others might not see and wrote reports. That is all. And I never worked to harm your people. Even your father knew that. Why do you think he let me spend so much time with you? Surely not because you knew State secrets."

"Oh, Rick, you have crushed another one of my cherished images – Castle the Secret Agent Man, like James Bond. I dreamed of being a 'Castle Girl'."

"Elena, I shadowed your father for book research. Nothing more. I never published the book because it was never finished. I couldn't finish it without – I just never finished it. And you are my Castle Girl, the first and only one."

"And that is as it should always be, Rick. First and only."

They spent the next hour going through the loft and Castle was so glad that Elena immediately felt at home. Castle suggested driving across town and checking out of her hotel and then grabbing brunch at his usual haunt.

"I drive, Rick, yes? I need to become familiar with the terrain, the ways to get from here to there quickly and efficiently and also because I like driving your old wreck. It is so much more practical that the Avanti or your little toy wind-it-up with no roof."

"Yes, you can drive. Just keep all four wheels on the roadway and obey the strict speed limit signs and watch out for taxicabs and jaywalkers. They don't do anything I just asked you to."

Rick was in stitches by the time they'd reached her hotel. The city had awakened and even on a Sunday morning things were fast paced and Elena had absolutely set her Karma meter back years cursing cab drivers, truck drivers, pedestrians and throwing obscene gestures at those who had the effrontery to impede her progress.

"Rick, why did that man spit on our windscreen and then rub it off with his grimy shirt sleeve? Do you know everyone in this town?"

She laughed at his strangled reply that probably set his meter back a month or two.

"Here we are. I shall not be long. I have only one suitcase and a small bag and I'll be back and then we can go eat this brunch. Should I change into something more dressy?"

"Nope. You'll do." Indeed. She wore Euro-cut jeans that enhanced her figure tucked into high-heeled boots that seemed to match anything, and a tight white sweater with a cowl neck that tempted the mechanics of her bra to restrain her assets when she leaned over. She would do nicely.

* * *

><p>City Diner<br>Manhattan

Elena held Rick's hand while they threaded their way through the crowds. He seemed to know everyone and was stopped frequently and he always introduced Elena as 'my Elena' to women and 'Inspector Antonenko' to men or couples.

One time, though, he introduced her as 'the woman I thought I could replace with you and all the others'. A small blonde with angry eyes who seemed to think that Rick was hers to abuse had intercepted them. Elena had taken a defensive stance beside Rick and had her hand in her purse on her Rook.

The small blonde looked her up and down and then sneered at Rick.

"You better not be spending all your time in the sack, Rick. You're behind on your book and the publishers are threatening to pull your advance and rethink your contract. They think the 'Nikki Heat' book was a one-time thing, a flash in the pan, so be warned, Castle. There are any number of authors out there who are cheaper and _better_ than – Urk! – "

"You will not disrespect Richard Castle, you little piece of shit! You are rich and famous and powerful because of what _he_ does for you with his writing. He will finish his book and it will be wonderful and you, you blood-sucker, will kiss his feet and apologize in this very place when he does."

She released her choke hold on Gina's blazer lapels that she'd crossed and used to throttle the harpy.

"Now, my Rook and I are going to have brunch and you are going to leave here and not come back into our presence again without invitation. He does not _need_ you to be the great writer he is. He only needs time – and love. He will get both, and you will get your damned book."

Castle was in awe and also in a blatantly obvious state of arousal. Elena had risen to his defense and done so in such a way as to ensure that one Gina Cowell was publicly humiliated in front of her peers.

He was standing there with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face and dumbly followed her to a table when she said, "We are done here, Castle, and you promised me food and then another demonstration of your abilities. Come, my lover, feed me and then love me."

Rick sat in the booth across from her and just smiled. When the waitress came to take their drink order he still hadn't said a thing, just stared at his partner and smiled.

"Rick, what will we drink?"

"A carafe of coffee and I think some of your dark Indian blend of tea in an English pot. And sugar cubes. She is Russian and they don't drink as we do."

She glared at him across the table and then laughed for it was true, they drank their tea with sugar, a cube held between their teeth. He remembered.

Elena tried to bring up the book and his 'difficulties' and he shushed her.

"The book is stalled because I have been wallowing in self-pity instead of resolving my issues and pressing on with what I do best. You, my Russian Little Miss, have shown me that. I will write when I am not spending 'quality time' with you and the rest of the family and – and Elena – I will resurrect my 'Dacha Murders' and finish it in honor of you and your mother. I should have done it years ago but – but I didn't want to revisit those memories."

"And you have 'resolved your issues'?" It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that he still harbored feelings, intense feelings, for Detective Beckett and that she was initially a distraction but now – but now she knew better. Beckett was history and she, Elena Tatiana Bortnikov Antonenko, was his future.

"As best I can, given what has happened. I am only human, Elena. It takes time to mend a heart but with you, I think the recovery period will be short and pleasant."

"Good. We must work on that at all times. And you must not keep secrets from me nor I from you. If we are to share one soul, we must be honest with one another, agreed?"

"Da!"

"Good. Now, I see a long line of food and I have not eaten properly so show me how a New Yorker 'does brunch'.

* * *

><p>Kate Beckett<p>

It wasn't exactly a plan, more of an idea, a concept. Insert herself into Richard Castle's life and allow him to see her in settings where she didn't carry a badge and a gun. She decided to start with having morning coffee and lunch at places he would frequent starting with his favorite Sunday brunch.

She was dressed 'to casually kill'. She had on everything she owned that he'd expressed an interest in. Her hair was down the way she knew he liked it and she wore just the right lipstick and eye makeup to be noticeable.

She was walking up to the restaurant door when a short blonde exploded from it and plowed into her and then bounced off and stumbled away.

"Gina? Is there anything wrong?" From the look of anguish on the woman's face – had something happened to Castle?

She grabbed her by the upper arm and spun her around and put on her Detective Beckett face and challenged her.

"Gina, what is wrong? Is it Castle? Has something – "

"Oh, yeah, it's him. He's with _her!_ He's going to lose his advance and contract if he doesn't finish _your_ damned Nikki Heat book but does he care? No! He doesn't give a shit about anyone or anything except his damned dick! First it was you and then me and then you again and now it's _her."_

"You're not making sense, Gina. Why is he going to lose his contact? I thought the book was done. And I don't know what you're thinking but Castle and I _never_ – "

"Oh, come on, Detective. If he wasn't banging you then why did he waste so much of his time with you instead of writing? He researched enough of procedure and gotten enough flavor to write Nikki Heat for the rest of his life. Well, it doesn't matter now. _She's_ here. His _Little Miss_. I have to go. I have things to do. Goodbye, Detective."

Kate was appalled that people thought she was sleeping with Castle. They'd never even been on a date. Had he told Gina they were sleeping together or something? And who the hell was this Little Miss that had Gina so upset? And why was she so upset? Shit – Gina had left Castle for another guy and now regretted it. And hated this other woman and blamed Castle for it all.

How typical. The woman was a real piece of work.

She walked into the restaurant where she and Castle and Alexis had sometimes eaten brunch after a case closing or just because he wanted her company.

Alexis was a great kid and Kate often compared her to her father. Castle, the playboy and boob-signer, was a different man around his daughter. He was a father who obviously loved his daughter more than anything. He'd raised an amazing child by himself despite his own childish nature. That in itself made him an extraordinary man in Kate's eyes.

Kate wandered around the periphery of the eating area and spotted and waved to several people or groups who knew her from her Nikki Heat fame. She waved back and avoided actually meeting or talking with any of them. They were 'Castle's people' and she didn't want to get into any discussions about 'them'.

There they were, at a table in the back, sitting across from one another and she was feeding him something from her plate and laughing. They looked so happy together and so – so right.

She left rather than chance being see by them and have to explain why she was there alone, stalking Castle. That's what this whole 'get Rick' operation really was. She was stalking Richard Castle.

And she was going to have to be very good at it to achieve her goal.


	12. Chapter 12

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 12

"Daaaaad – I'm home!" Alexis announced her arrival in her typical time-honored way and the stopped when she saw Elena and her father sitting on the couch. His head was in her lap and she was running her fingers through his hair as they worked on the New York Times Sunday crosswords.

"Somnambulist, 11 letters, my Rook." She glanced up at Alexis and smiled her best and most sincere smile.

"Sleepwalker, Little Miss. Hey, here she is. Alexis, I'd like you to meet Elena Tatiana Bortnikov Antonenko. You remember the girl I told you stories about – "

"You're Little Miss. Wow, this is – wow. I feel like I've known you my entire life. Dad used to tell me bedtime stories about princes and knights and wolves and damsels in distress and about his Little Miss."

"Well, I have known about you since you were still in your mother's womb, Alexis. Your father has done nothing but talk about you. I feel like we are friends already. Let me up, Rook, so I can greet her properly. This is 'ne kulturny' as you well know."

"Oh, no, don't get up on my account. Will you be staying for dinner? It's my turn to cook so be forewarned." She wasn't sure what to make of what she saw with her own eyes. Her father looked _happy_, happier than she'd seen him in weeks and weeks.

"Alexis, Elena is staying for as long as she wishes. We spent the weekend at the beach house, sweetie, and reconnected after all this time. She's here on assignment and then will do an exchange with the FBI and then Homeland Security." The look on his face said a whole lot more to her than just a simple statement. He was asking for her approval.

"Great! We need another female to help keep you in line. Ms. Antonenko, welcome to the Keep. We call it the Loft but wags in the press refer to it as Castle's Keep."

"Thanks! I will help you and Martha keep Rick on his toes and on the line. He is a handful. Not much has changed since Russia. He is even more handsome and now he has proven he can pass on beautiful genes to the next generation. I just love your hair. There are few redheads in Russia. You would turn many men's heads in Moscow."

"That's it. Russia is off your itinerary for any future trips abroad. No head turnings. Elena, she's only…"

"Rick, stop. She is the same age as I was when we met. You _are_ like my father – an old grumpy grouch who would build a moat around his daughter, stock it with man eating fish and a 24-hour guard of eunuchs." She laughed and Alexis gave her a high-five.

"At last, someone who can fill in the generation gap between me and my Dad! Thanks, Dad. You did really well this time. Elena, we can shop and talk and run rings around this old man. I'm so glad you're here."

"I've created my own Hell, haven't I? Between your grandmother's nagging and your whining and now Elena's wheedling away, I'm never going to win an argument, am I?"

"Nope. I'll run upstairs and unpack and then start dinner. Unless you two have plans?"

"How about I take my girls out for dinner. Some Chinese or whatever you prefer. Elena's just been here a few days and I'd like her to get to know the city. She'll be driving the Bronco when she needs wheels."

"Dad! That thing is a death trap and handles like a – a truck!" She hated her father's old Bronco but he wouldn't trade it in saying that it had 'sentimental value'.

"It is a truck, Lex. And a steel box around her so she won't get hurt."

Elena just took it all in and smiled. This was a family she would fit into easily.

"I'll just unpack and change and be ready in not time at all. Elena, if my Dad will get up and let you up, I have something I want to show you. And no, Dad, you're not invited."

"It's started already. Plotting against the throne. Stirring up the peasants, irritating the lesser nobility."

Alexis rolled her eyes at his antics. "He's such a drama queen, Elena."

* * *

><p>The two walked up the stairs to the bedrooms and Alexis put her finger to her lips and then opened her father's office door and stepped in, dragging Elena inside by the wrist and closing the door behind them.<p>

"He would kill me if he knew I even knew about this but I wanted you to see something but before I do, I have to tell you a story so sit down and relax and just listen, okay?"

Elena sat in the desk chair somehow knowing it was where he wrote his books. There was no computer, no blotter, and no tablets with half-chewed pencils strewn about. It was a clean workspace.

"When I was four or five, my father had a vicious argument with someone on the phone. Someone Russian. After it was over my Dad tore the phone from the wall of the kitchen in our apartment and threw it through the window into the airshaft. I'd never heard him so angry – not even when he'd confronted Meredith – that's my mom – about her boyfriend the producer."

"How did you know he was speaking to a Russian? He doesn't speak Russian, just English like he said. You were just a little girl and – "

"Elena, my father speaks Russian, Italian, French and German and it doesn't surprise me that he didn't tell you. He was doing work and people seem to talk about secret stuff around dumb writers who smile and nod when they call them stupid names and insult them knowing they don't understand."

"That sneaky – "

"Hey, he's my Dad. Be nice. Now, after he threw the phone through the window he sat down at the kitchen table and cried. I thought someone had died or something but apparently it was worse. I sat on his lap and I cried, too, because I was little and afraid and my Dad never cried or yelled or got angry and never threw things. I was afraid something bad had happened."

"And so, what happened, Alexis?"

"He told me that the woman he loved and wanted to marry was marrying someone else. He had planned to bring her to Los Angeles, that's where we were when my Mom cut out on us, but it was ruined. He said his 'Little Miss' was marrying someone else."

"I'd never seen my father cry before and I was terrified. Even today I can remember that. I just crawled up on his lap and cried with him."

"Oh, Alexis – "

"The next week we moved to New York and he never mentioned you again. He never told me another bedtime story about Little Miss and her adventures. I'd gone to sleep for as long as I could remember to 'Little Miss and her Adventures' and now she was gone."

"Alexis, I don't understand – "

Alexis opened a file cabinet and reached far into the back and pulled out a file folder labeled 'Eastern Europe Travel Vouchers' and pulled out dog-eared photographs of her father and someone else in a wheelchair or sitting on his lap or of him carrying her toward a couch. It was easy to see the love between them.

"My mother took these. Rick was – I never was engaged with anyone until I was 25, Alexis, and then it fell apart because I did not love him enough to give him my heart. Your father took it with him when he left me."

'Then whoever he talked to, a guy named Alexander or something like it, lied to him."

"My father. He did not want Rick and I together. He thought that it would not be proper because of our ages and because he was an American. He tolerated him only because of government pressures. It was good public relations to have an American writer writing about the new Russian Federation's police."

"Are you his 'Little Miss'? Are you going to break his heart again? He's been through a lot with Detective Beckett but I saw some of my younger dad in his face in just the few minutes I've been here today."

"Alexis, we are together at last. We will have to see what happens because of my job and some other things. I am an adult and I will make all my decisions, not my damned father. We are estranged. I do not need approval for matters of the heart."

"He would come in here sometimes and stare at these photos and drink Scotch until either he fell asleep or he could write. I don't want to see him like that ever again, Elena."

"Neither do I. Alexis, do you know why he left me? No? It was because your mother told him she was pregnant and was going to 'get rid of it' and your father flew home and married her. He did the right thing, Alexis, and I have never blamed him for it. Seeing you, I know it was worth it."

A silent pact was made and metaphorically signed in blood. They were kindred spirits and their sole goal in life was the care and nurturing of Richard Castle.

* * *

><p>12th Precinct<br>Lower Manhattan  
>7am<p>

Elena drove the Bronco carefully into the parking lot and pulled into a spot marked 'Visitor'. Her hands were shaking in anger and she slammed the vehicle into 'Park' and got out, again slamming the door.

She had just experienced New York City traffic for the first time and had already decided to kill all the cab drivers in New York as a one-time gift from the Russian people to the American people.

She took the elevator to the Homicide Squad floor and walked off it into an empty Squad Bay. _'They must all be out on a case.'_ Elena dropped her briefcase and her purse on the floor beside Kate's desk and went to the break room for coffee. She had come to enjoy their morning coffee interludes and Rick made the best coffee. This morning he'd risen before her, made breakfast, greeted her with a kiss and a cup of coffee and then disappeared while she showered and dressed. Alexis and her father were eating when she finally made an appearance and the conversation had been lively and fun.

"It took me a while to figure it out too. Here, let me show you." Lanie's voice had startled her, lost as she was in a pleasant memory that Rick promised would become habit.

"Thank you, Dr. Parish. This is more of an engineering project than I'm ready for after this morning's traffic. Thank you."

"You drove? This morning? Oh, you brave woman. You definitely need a double shot." Lanie tried to dislike the Russian cop for Kate's sake but couldn't find much if anything to dislike.

"Yes. Rick has given me a Bronco, his Bronco, to come and go in. He feels that I will be safer with 'steel cocoon' wrapped around me in his absence. He is such a sweet man and has not changed a bit in all these years."

"Years? I thought you just met Castle the other day in the Squad Bay."

"It is a long story. He was a 'spy' for your State Department and he came to Russia to follow around my father who is also a policeman for a story. We met, me in a wheelchair with a broken leg and hip, and he spent time with me, keeping up my spirits and…this is perhaps for another time. Where is everyone this morning?"

"I've got a body in the chiller and have to get back. We got a call about a body and Beckett and her boys are investigating the dumpsite. I'm doing the preliminaries on the body. Would you like to observe? You can continue your story about how you met Castle."

"Yes. I will take notes and see how much better you are. Without doubt having an Examiner on staff must make the job easier and quicker. Yes, I would like that but first, my coffee, please?"

* * *

><p>Morgue<p>

"Inspector, the probably cause of death is a severely broken neck, as you can see." Lanie had removed the sheet from the body of a young woman dressed in eveningwear. She turned when she heard a sharp intake of breath from her 'guest observer'.

"If you are going to vomit, Inspector, please use – "

"No! I thought I might know her that is all. I was surprised. I do not think she died of a broken neck. That is not their style when they eliminate a troublesome girl. Is it proper to remove her clothing for a closer examination?"

"Yeah, just getting to it. We bag the clothing to avoid possible contamination of any DNA or other evidence and, as you see, we put the hands in bags, the feet also if they are found barefoot but she was wearing heels. Very expensive heels."

Elena muttered something in Russian that Lanie didn't catch when Lanie was removing the dress. "What was that, Inspector?"

". I think she was naked and then murdered and redressed. See here, the buttons are in the wrong holes. Someone redressed her. A woman would never make such a mistake."

"Hmm, I think you're onto something. " Elena swore under her breath and then said, "No underwear. Not proper at all."

Lanie was taking swabs from the mouth and samples from under the dead girl's fingernails when Elena noticed a drop of blood on the girl's sternum between her breasts.

"What is that, Dr. Parish? It looks like a drop of blood after a hypodermic needle has been removed. I do not know the English term."

"Expressed blood. Good catch, Inspector, a damned good catch. I'll run a tox screen and then we'll crack her chest and do an internal. I don't know if I'd have caught that. I'm glad you're here. This was no ordinary murder and I'll need to call Beckett and update her. We still have no ID on the body and that will be driving the team bat-shit. She likes everything nice and tidy and a Jane Doe is not so tidy."

"Jane Doe?" She was unfamiliar with the term.

"Yeah, a name we give them to identify them temporarily until we discover their real name. A man is a 'John Doe'."

"Ah, thank you. John and Jane. Ivan and Ivana. We do the same thing."

The subject of Elena and Rick didn't come up again as the Medical Examiner and the Russian cop got involved in the examination of the body.

* * *

><p>Beckett showed up two hours later with her usual, "What have you got for me, Lanie?" opening comment.<p>

"Well, you're not going to believe it, but your new shadow has both identified the cause of death and the name of the victim. Kate, you're gonna flip when we tell you what we found…"

Beckett looked at Elena and glared. Lanie was _her_ friend and even though they'd argued about Castle, she still hoped she'd 'be on her side' but it didn't look like it. There were too many '_we's'_ in Lanie's sentence.

"I'm surprised she had time considering how busy she's been. Have you seen Page Six in the Post, Lanie?" Beckett tossed the folded newspaper onto Lanie's desk and then left the Morgue.

"Oh, shit! Elena, you and Castle are in the news. And in glorious color, too. And is that Gina-Bitch-the-ex-wife you have in that chokehold? You and me have got to talk, girl friend. Suddenly Monday isn't so boring after all. Let's go get another coffee and see if Esposito brought doughnuts and we'll sit and you _will _tell me everything, Senior Inspector Antonenko."


	13. Chapter 13

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man  
>Chapter 13<p>

* * *

><p>12th Precinct<br>Lower Manhattan  
>11am<p>

Instead of coffee, Lanie dragged Elena out to Remy's for a real 'cop burger' and gossip.

"I can't imagine Richard Castle, known affectionately and not so affectionately as 'WriterBoy' and various other colorful nicknames, as a spy. Are you certain we're talking about the same Richard Castle?"

"Yes. Perhaps 'spy' is too much, perhaps 'observer' would be a better term as Rick explained it to me."

"Okay, tell me everything."

They ate and drank ice tea and Elena finally finished her abbreviated tale, leaving out Montauk and her infiltration assignment entirely. Lanie had no reason to know about that part of her life but she soon found out that Lanie was like a pit bull when it came to digging out information.

"So your father lied to Castle and he never tried to contact you or anything? That doesn't sound like the Castle I know. He's chased Beckett for more than three years. He doesn't give up."

"He has this time. We are together, Lanie, and I will somehow find a way to stay this time. There will be no sacrifices on his part, not again. He has given up so much for his daughter and now that she knows, she is in my box and has my back."

"I think you mean 'corner'. Alexis knows about all this?" Castle had an amazing kid but sometimes he was _too_ open with her in Lanie's opinion.

"Yes. She told me how he fought with my father to speak with me and that my father lied to Rick and told him I was marrying someone else after he was free from Meredith and Alexis was safely in his sole custody."

"That's like really hard to believe, Elena. I mean I believe you and all but wow! Castle and you all those years ago?"

"Here. I have some pictures that Alexis showed me that my mother took of us back in our summer dacha. See, I have a broken leg and hip and he spent a lot of time talking to me and reading to me and soon we became fond of one another and then…"

"Yeah? You two got intimate? He was older than you and a foreigner to boot. Not a good – " Even Lanie could see the love between them. _'Beckett, you lost this one. Castle's definitely off the market.'_

"No! Never intimate. He left to save his unborn daughter. He promised to come back, to write or call but he never did. Years later I learned that my father intercepted the mail and of course the phone calls. He was then a big wheel in the police and now – even bigger - over all police and border guards but I will never forgive my father for what he did to us. Rick thought I had 'moved on?' is that the phrase? Okay, and he became morose and threw himself into a new life – one without me."

Lanie was quiet for a few moments and then asked Elena about her 'intentions'. She figured Kate would need to know.

"We are going to marry. I have decided but not right now. I have things to do. He would have asked me in Russia after I recovered but he left. And the rest you know all about."

"Let's head back. You can brief Beckett and the guys on what we've learned about the girl. This is going to complicate matters."

"No, it shouldn't. Beckett is a professional and from what I have seen, she is able to box up her personal feelings for the sake of the job. This will not ruffle her duck pond. She has had others instead of Castle when all he wanted was her and now, she should look elsewhere."

"That's way too easy for how life works but we'll see. Don't expect her to be your twitter buddy or your BFF 'cause girl friend, this is gonna smack her upside her head and really rattle her cage. Don't be surprised if you suddenly become invisible to her. She does not forgive and taking Castle from her, even though she didn't want him at the time, that's unforgivable in her eyes."

"I have been frozen out before, Lanie. In Russia, women are not welcome in this profession and it is a men's club for certain. On another subject, I need to repair my hair color, Lanie. Where would you go to get brown hair again? This," she said, fingering her blonde hair, "is not me. I have dark brown hair."

"Follow me. I'll show you and then you can make an appointment. Wow, what a story. I'm surprised Castle hasn't written about it."

"He did. The _Dacha Murders_ will be finished shortly. I asked him to finish it and he promised to do so. He introduced a new male character that rivaled Derek Storm. It is a wonderful book. It is as real as the _Nikki Heat _books but takes place back when he and I were Little Miss and Mister Foreigner. It has more of a love story to it. I read it and cried for the time we've lost. I hope his publisher, that blonde bitch, will take it. She might hold the grudge, no? I was not nice to her like Rick would want but she was disrespectful and needed put down."

"Elena, you meant 'put in her place', not 'put down'. That means to kill an animal."

"I said what I meant. She is horrible person and unappreciative of his skills and talents."

_'And Kate has to work with her? She'd better watch her mouth about Castle around Little Miss Inspector.'_

* * *

><p>12th Precinct<br>Lower Manhattan  
>3PM<p>

Lanie watched as a shaken Kate Beckett walked zombie-like to the elevator. She had not taken Elena's tale as related (and editorialized) by Lanie well at all. She was rattled and definitely off her game. Lanie just shook her head and went back to her own world of bodies and mysteries. Beckett was a poster child for denial and she'd ended up denying herself Richard Castle.

* * *

><p>The Loft<p>

7pm

Elena parked the Bronco in the designated slot and then took the elevator to the proper floor. She was tired and drained but as soon as she came to Castle's door she felt renewed and credited it to the family she would soon be joining.

Castle heard her key in the door and opened it and greeted her with an embrace that reassured her she was still wanted. He kissed her soundly and then carried her up to their bedroom like a romance hero and laid her on the bed and began undressing her with an efficiency that surprised her.

"Rick, I stink. I smell like Lanie's dead bodies and besides Alexis is – "

"I have a bath for you and I want you to soak while I prepare a quick meal for us. Then, if you feel up to it, I want to take you for a cab ride through the park. Just you and me. Go, get in the tub and soak away the stink and weariness. I'll have dinner ready for you whenever you decide you want to eat."

"The bath sounds wonderful. As for dinner, whatever you are having is fine. Nothing heavy. I had lunch with Lanie and that Cheeseburger Surprise is still sitting there. I hate taxicabs, Rick. I want to stay in and just be all over you and relax."

"It's a Hansom Cabriolet and it's horse-drawn, my love, and it's very slow and relaxing. If not tonight, then another night. We have all the time in the world, Elena."

"And Alexis? You have farmed her out to relatives or friends?" She laughed at the look on his face.

"She's studying with her friend Paige and will be back later. All she could talk about was you, how much she liked you and how nice we were together. You have her vote if you decide to run for Loft President."

"Carry me to the tub and since she is out, join me. You never finished shaving my legs, Rick, and I feel like a hairy ape and you don't want me to feel like that, do you?" She batted her eyelashes at him and then chortled when his mind went south as did the blood flow.

"You, my love, are an evil woman."

"Come. I will prove it to you."

* * *

><p>Kate Beckett's Apartment<br>7PM

The open bottle of wine and the remnants of twice left-over pizza covered her coffee table. She wasn't using a glass. She wanted to get shit-faced as quickly as possible so that she wouldn't think about Castle and his Russian lady friend.

Lanie had been blunt and uncharacteristically brutal in her telling of the tale and her editorializing had Kate's stomach in knots.

'_He'd known her forever and had romanced her when she was an invalid and even had the approval of the girl's mother, for Christ's sake. He didn't marry her because Meredith was pregnant and thinking about aborting his baby so he left and married Alexis' mother, the actress bitch, leaving behind his true love and a broken heart.'_

It was so damned romantic that even _she_ felt sympathetic towards the couple.


	14. Chapter 14

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 14

12th Precinct  
>Lower Manhattan<br>8am

Elena bounced into the Squad Bay looking at the display on her new cell phone that Rick had given her as a surprise last night. Last night had been full of surprises and this was not the best one by far. Still, he had given her the cell as a way of 'connecting to the world', as if she was isolated. She was. She had no friends that she could talk with, she had no family to fall back on but she did have him and his family. And she told herself, '_That is more than enough'._

She was trying to figure out how to return a text message when she almost knocked down Dr. Parish because she wasn't looking where she was going.

"Lanie! Oh, I am so sorry. I am trying to figure out this damned phone Rick gave me and I'm all thumbs and – damn it – I am a university graduate and I cannot figure out how to respond to a simple text message that I must!"

"No harm done, Elena. Here, let me see if this is like mine. It's not tricky once you learn the sequence." Her eyes fell on the display and she was momentarily shocked into a fugue state.

"Lanie? Lanie, are you okay?" Elena had never seen such a look on the M.E.'s face before and she grew concerned at her lack of response.

"Y-yeah – fine. Just trying to figure out the key sequence. Okay, you do this…" and proceeded to explain how to respond to Castle's text. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what Elena would say in response to

**_Someday when things calm down – _**_**I'll ask you again.**_

"Lanie, would you please text back 'And I'll say 'yes' but not until'."

Lanie was curious and had no concept of tact at times. "Elena, what question did Castle ask? It's none of my business but I have a near-fatal case of the 'curiouses'.

"'Custiouses'? What is 'curiouses'? That word I am not familiar with."

"It's what my mom used to say when I'd pester her with questions she didn't want to answer."

"Ah. I too have had this malady. And Rick seems to suffer from it without cessation."

"The question, Elena Tatiana Antonenko. What was the question?"

"He asked me to wax his back and I told him I was too busy." She toyed with Lanie and enjoyed it. She liked this brash doctor who was so unlike any Russian physician she'd ever met except for her mother.

"I'ma gonna smack you upside yo' haid if'n you don't tell me!" She made a fierce face and then collapsed in laughter. "I guess South Philly doesn't translate well into Russian. Please, I'm dying here, Elena."

Elena sat down at a table in the break room and looked around quickly. "You must understand that this is between us, Lanie. Rick asked me to marry him again but I declined. We had words, strong words, but I believe we are good again. He made much of it before asking, and looked like a little boy before he asked."

"Again? How many times had the boy asked you already?"

"Only once. He asked me in Russia but then the mess with Alexis' mother happened while we were waiting for my father to return from Europe for his blessing. My mother knew and had seen the ring and was thrilled but then Meredith called and he left. My father blocked all communication from him to me and I thought he no longer cared. I was wrong."

Lanie's eyes got big and then she realized just how much Elena and Castle had been through. Castle was trying to be the gentleman and get her father's permission and his ex-girlfriend back home tells him she's going to abort his baby that he knew nothing about. She'd misjudged Castle about so many things and she felt ashamed.

"But Elena, after all these years – " She stopped when she saw the tears in Elena's eyes. Yeah, after all these years, maybe things had changed.

"I told him I cannot marry him until things are in balance. I have a task, a mission, and I cannot allow myself to be distracted or allow someone I love to be at risk again. If he asks me again before then the answer will be 'no' that is what I meant. Maybe someday soon it will be 'yes', maybe."

Lanie knew there was nothing else to discuss and changed the topic to a safer subject.

"So how's the boy doing? It's boring around here without him to brighten things up. He always had a way of making work seem almost fun – except for the dead bodies that kept cropping up."

"He is doing well. He is finishing a book he started long ago – the _Dacha Murders_ that I told you about and, of course, he is on the phone at all times of the day and night arguing with that black hearted blonde he mistakenly married thinking Alexis needed a 'mother figure'."

Lanie snorted a laugh. "That man is both an incredible father and mother to Alexis. I don't know anyone who could have done better. Little Castle is mature and thoughtful and full of life and it's all because of that man. And yet sometimes you just wanna wring his neck…"

Beckett appeared in the break room at that moment and there was a uncomfortable silence while she got coffee and broke it with "Speaking of necks, what do you have for me on the Russian girl with the broken neck?" She refused to acknowledge Elena's contribution and that hacked Lanie off but Beckett was the lead detective and called the shots.

"Nadia Talmusz is a Ukrainian, Detective, not a Russian and she died of an injection of poison directly into her heart. The broken neck was from a fall or drop from the roof of a building bordering the alley", Lanie said.

Beckett looked at Lanie and then at Elena and said, "Yeah, Nadia Talmusz. I'll remember that in the future." It was always Beckett who howled the loudest when names weren't used to identify the victims. She felt it was disrespectful and yet the Russian had provided them with a name and COD and that irked her to no end.

"And just how did you come to know her, Inspector?" She wanted an answer. She had a feeling it might be enlightening.

"You have no need to know, Detective. The FBI is dealing with that aspect of the case. Be glad you retained jurisdiction. I have been told not to discuss it with anyone."

"Not even Castle? What _do_ you two find to talk about, Inspector?" Lanie was frantically trying to get Kate's attention and warn her off but she plowed on relentlessly. She didn't know the full story of Castle and Elena. She hadn't had time to update on the latest revelation.

Elena smiled and laughed. "We talk about us, Detective, what else? We have much to relearn about one another and so many new things to share."

"_RELEARN_?" Kate's eyes narrowed. She didn't like being surprised during an interrogation and that's what this conversation had deteriorated into – an interrogation.

"Kate, maybe you and I should talk about things. There are things you don't – "

Elena's phone rang with a ring tone Kate didn't recognize but that Lanie did. "We'll give you some privacy, Elena." Lanie took Kate by the arm and led her from the break room. She practically dragged Beckett to the elevator and then to the Morgue for a 'briefing update'.

* * *

><p>Morgue<p>

"Castle and Elena have history, Kate."

"I know. You told me in sordid and graphic detail."

"No – I mean _history._ He was waiting around for her father to okay their marriage when Meredith pulled the 'I'm gonna kill your baby' on him and he flew home to save future Alexis. Her father kept her from knowing he was calling and writing. She thought he'd moved on. He thought she had when she never responded. Her father told Rick she was engaged to someone else after a while and so he stepped back."

"Oh, shit. So they're – they're serious about it after all these years?"

"She's living at the loft, driving his precious Bronco and carrying around a new iPhone so he can 'brighten her day' with texts. That ring tone – it's from the remake of the _Jazz Singer_ – guy comes back after being away and sings 'Hello' – Neil Diamond – kinda sweet really."

"So that's it? That's what I'm up against?"

"Not exactly. We talked about Page Six – she said some harsh things to Gina and apparently she told her to leave Castle alone or pay the price."

"Verbal threats? This isn't Russia. She can't do that!"

"All I'm saying is 'watch your mouth around her if Castle comes into the conversation – like just now in the break room."

"Fat chance of that happening."

Lanie just rolled her eyes. Some lessons are best learned the hard way. Beckett didn't need to know about Castle asking Elena to marry him again. She was afraid she'd see 'no' as a glimmer of hope.

"Lanie, should I call him? Just to get his input on the case?" She was grasping at straws but wanted to find some way to talk to him, to apologize and ask him to come back and work with her. Once he came back, he'd see his Kate and forget all about Elena.

"You can do that. Or you can do the right thing like Castle did – get the hell out of the way."

* * *

><p>Homicide Squad Bay<p>

Esposito was 'in the loop' about Castle and the hot Russian Inspector. Lanie had filled him in the previous night. Castle just kept surprising the hell out of Esposito.

"Morning, Inspector. Anything new on our victim?"

"If you could help me, I have some photos and prints I would like to run past your database. These are Russian criminals sentenced _in absentia_ for crimes against the Russian people. I have Interpol warrants that the FBI will handle once we locate them. They are of low priority to your authorities." She spread a series of 8X10s across the desk.

"Do you have any information on where they might be working out of? It would help us get a start. I can scan the fingerprints into the system – maybe get a hit and a new name if they're in there."

"Most likely Brighton Beach area since that is where the Russian émigrés seem to have formed a community. Castle took me to Moscow Nights on a date but I did not see anyone familiar to me."

"Castle took you out? Man, he's a fast worker." Esposito wondered just how much the Inspector knew of Castle's history with Beckett. Ryan would love this.

"I asked him out. We are old friends it seems but he didn't recognize me as I am today. A lot of time has passed. We have reconnected again. So, please, show me how to do this 'scan' thing?"

* * *

><p>Two hours later, Esposito interrupted Beckett and Elena's conversation but neither minded. It was difficult for Beckett to talk to Elena without feeling jealous and resentful despite her promise to herself to be professional during working hours.<p>

"Inspector, of the 12 sets of prints we got 7 of them on file. One is dead, Yuri Andrakov, shot and killed in a robbery. One of the remaining sets belongs to a guy doing a life term for murder – Becks, you remember this guy, don't ya? You put him away." He handed Beckett the folder and the photograph that Elena had shown them.

"Oh, yeah. This guy is bad news. Killed a diamond courier in broad daylight and stole a fortune in uncut stones. Inspector, this guy is definitely Russian Mafia and I think part of your Brodski Troika who went independent. I got an anonymous tip where he was hiding out. He was covered with tattoos, mostly names and dates. He never, and I mean, never said a thing. We figured he'd roll over on someone else since he was set up but nope, not a word."

Elena interrupted with a question about tattoos.

"Names and dates on the upper back, right?" Beckett nodded. "Those are contract killings. It is their way. Stupid, really. A confession on skin if they're ever caught. Do you know what they call themselves? _Volkami – wolves._"

They spent an hour going over what they had on the other 5 hits and Beckett laughed when Elena's stomach growled.

"Hey, let's go get something for lunch and then we'll start running down these scumbags. Captain Montgomery has handed us the files on the unsolved cases that we've connected to these guys but can't prove. Maybe we'll get lucky and pick one up."

"Good. Just not another Cheeseburger Surprise. I still have yesterday's in my belly and it is still just sitting there like I told Rick."

"We'll grab a hot dog and a Coke and recap what we have on the Ukrainian girl's murder. I think you know more than you're saying and I'd like the truth, all of it."

"You deserve to know what I know that I am allowed to discuss. It is not state secrets, just the FBI's rules. Agent Shaw is looking at forming a serial killer taskforce. There have been several killings matching this modus operandi and she is spitting at the lips to get in command."

"So you'll go over to the task force when it's formed?"

"I do not think it will do any good. This is not a serial killer, Kate. It is the _Volkami_ who are getting rid of used merchandise that have become troublesome, or addicted, or pregnant."

"You seem to know an awful lot about these _Volkami, _Elena."

"They killed my mother."

Kate gasped in horror. Her mother – they had more in common than she'd known.

"First they sent a message. They ambushed my car and driver and drove us into a pole. I escaped with a broken leg and hip. My father was expected to back off but he didn't."

"So they killed your mother, didn't they?"

"Yes. A car bomb at the clinic she worked at. She was an orthopedic surgeon, one of the best. I walk today because of her."

"So you're here to bring them back to face Russian justice?"

"No. I want them to face _my_ justice." The look on her face was one Kate had seen many times – in her own bathroom mirror on nights when she couldn't sleep.

Ryan broke the silence and handed Elena a folder. "Inspector, I overheard you and Esposito and I went down to Records and pulled a couple of files, mostly arrest reports, on the scumbags Esposito found. The guy who popped the diamond merchant was photographed after booking. You might be interested in the tats on his back."

Elena nodded and smiled at Ryan. He was by far the nicest man she'd yet met here at the 12th. Esposito was efficient but brusque whereas Ryan seemed out of place and innocent.

She flipped open the file and went through the photographs stopping and staring at the shot that covered the back.

"There, Kate, there is the date of my mother's death. No name though. That sometimes means assassination but most likely he wasn't told the identity of his target. Definitely _Volkami."_

"How do you know so much about these Volkami?" She fixed a stare at Ryan and he got the message and left, closing the door behind him.

"_S volkami zhit', po-volch'i vyt_. To live with wolves, you have to howl like a wolf. An old Russian proverb. This is never to be discussed, okay, this is a trust I have with you. I was under the cover and infiltrated the Volkami and learned much but was unable to identify the pack leader, the Alpha wolf before I had to run for my life. That is how I know that girl."

"You were – oh, my God, does Castle know?" Kate was stunned. She'd literally sold her soul to bring down her mother's killers. Castle would be horrified.

"Just the bare bones but he has forgiven me and understands why I had to do it. Kate, they killed my mother! If you were me, what would you have done? I want justice for my mother and all the others."

There were tears in her eyes and Kate whispered, "I would sleep with the Devil to kill the man who murdered my mother."


	15. Chapter 15

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 15

Previously:

"_Kate, they killed my mother! If you were me, what would you have done? I want justice for my mother and all the others."_

_There were tears in her eyes and Kate whispered, "I would sleep with the Devil to kill the man who murdered __my__ mother."_

* * *

><p>Kate was surprised when Elena reached over and clutched her hand. "Beckett, you too have lost someone, yes? I can see it in your eyes. You have the same look I see some mornings when I have had a restless night or I have again failed to locate my prey. Who was it, Kate?"<p>

"My mother, also. She was murdered but it was made to look like gang violence, a random and senseless killing, but Castle took the file and had some 'contacts in the business' review things and he found out that there had been others murdered in the same way."

"I am sorry. I know exactly how it feels. The hollow burning pain that never quite goes away. It has hardened us both to the point where we feel nothing towards the animals who have taken her from us but always something for those who have suffered loss the same way, yes?"

Kate almost whispered, "Yes. Exactly." She looked into Elena's eyes and made herself a promise to put aside her issues and help the Russian 'get the Volkami'. Her subconscious fired a Parthian shot.

'_And when we do, she will return to Russia and forget about Castle and move on with her life. A win-win situation.'_

"Let's get that hot dog and Coke and then we'll review all the files on hand and maybe the Captain will OK us reviewing similar files in the Brighton Beach area precincts."

The two women took their 'lunch' to a nearby park and sat in the shade and talked about nothing at all until Kate asked about Alexis and how she was handling the 'relationship'.

"Alexis is as she has always been. She is tolerant of her father's antics but even she knows about the history we share. It seems that Castle would send her to sleep with tall tales of Little Miss when she was little until – "

"Go on. I can see her now, lying in bed in red pigtails, drowsy, but entranced."

" – Until one day he started reading her Dr. Seuss and she told me that was the day he'd destroyed his telephone by throwing it out the window after arguing violently with a Russian man – my father, actually – and then they moved to New York and he never mentioned the Little Miss again, ever."

Kate didn't know how to respond. She'd only seen Castle really angry one time and she was glad the focus hadn't been her. "That was how long ago?"

"It was long enough that the wound has scarred over but not so long ago that it still doesn't cause me pain. It was the day my father destroyed my world by telling him I was marrying someone else and that I did not want him in my life, even as a friend."

"And yet, here you are, together again." Her voice cracked when she said 'together' and she felt her heart physically hurt with the realization that they _were_ together.

"Yes, but I lost all that time, we lost all that time – but I will simply have to live each day more fully, no? Make sure each day I tell him how much he means to me, how much I love him, how much I need – "

Kate stood suddenly, tears filling her eyes, and tossed the remains of her lunch in the trash bin and then turned to Elena and said, "Let's go, Antonenko, we have wolves to hunt."

* * *

><p>3pm<p>

"Kate, I must leave for an appointment. I shall take these files or do you have a secure place…"

"Just leave them and I'll have one of the guys return them to Central Files. They've been scanned into our computers so even if they 'get lost', meaning stolen, we'll have the data on our hard drives, backed up, too."

"Good. Thank you for all – for all you have done. It has been a productive day and I think tomorrow will be, also. But I must hurry or I'll be late. Again, thank you."

Kate watched the blonde woman leave and felt both pleased with their progress and with the bond they'd formed. She was obviously in love with Castle and so long as she didn't hurt him, she was fine with it, really.

'_Demming and Josh, Castle was 'fine' with them, too. Y'know why? 'Cause he loved you enough to put your happiness above his own.'_

* * *

><p>Loft<br>6:45pm

Elena looked at herself in the mirror finish of the elevator door and smiled. It was a welcome sight to see her familiar reflection. When the elevator door opened she levered herself off the wall and walked briskly to their door – she smiled at her thought – their door – and used her key and stepped inside a place she felt was truly a home for her.

"Rick, I'm home, sweetheart. Rick?" She noticed that the door to the study was ajar and figured he was in his 'Cave' working on cleaning and updating the _Dacha Murders_ as he'd promised the blonde jackal the other night. She pushed the door open and laughed softly so as not to wake him.

He was sitting upright, eyes closed but head held as if he was staring at the laptop screen – sound asleep.

"Rick, baby, please wake up. My father will kill us if he catches you asleep in my bed!" She wasn't above pulling his arm when she could. He would repay her for her prank.

"Wha – Elena, what? Your father, oh, Little Miss – "

"Richard Castle, it is I, Elena Tatiana Antonenko, restored to my natural state. Gone is the floozy blonde and back is your Little Miss. Come, it is late and you are tired. Do you wish to nap before dinner?"

"You look as beautiful now as you did back then, Elena. Although back then I would never dream of – " He put the palm of one large hand on her breast and smiled and then leaned forward to capture her lips but she was too quick for him.

"You know that is not allowed, Richard, when Alexis might walk in. She is 17 and not to be shocked or embarrassed by your immature antics. Shame on you."

Castle stood and swooped her up and carried her out of the office and headed for their bedroom. She was pretending to object boisterously when her real desire was to tell him to hurry.

As Rick started up the open staircase, Alexis, standing in the kitchen, stopped him with a word.

"Dad!" He stopped and turned and Elena buried her face in his neck, giggling.

"Pumpkin, what's – "

"I can't believe you're cheating on Elena with some – some – brunette hooker slut – have you no decency? No shame?"

Castle had a wicked almost perverse sense of humor and it frequently made itself known at inopportune times, like now.

"Pumpkin, a man has needs that must be fulfilled as do women, but you are far too young and innocent to know about those, so go do your homework while Daddy takes care of his needs, okay?"

Alexis face turned almost purple with embarrassment and then anger.

"Dad, if you don't drop that slut right this minute, I will never speak to you again. I'll go live with Mom and the pool guy and marry the first guy I sleep with at the first party I snort cocaine – which will be the first night I'm in Los Angeles. I'll get tattoos all over my arms and legs and I'll get piercings – "

"Now, Pumpkin, you're getting needlessly upset and – "

"Upset! UPSET! I'm getting PISSED OFF! You have a wonderful woman named Elena who loves you for some God-only-knows-why reason and you're – "

Castle hears Elena say "Enough, Rick. She's really mad," and so he lets Elena slide to a standing position and says proudly, "Alexis, this is Little Miss as she was years ago. The blonde hair was for an assignment. This," hugging her tightly to him, "is Elena Tatiana, the woman I've asked to marry me, twice, and will continue to ask until she says 'yes'. Okay?"

Elena smiled up at Rick and then really smiles at Alexis. "It is as he says, Alexis. He has asked me twice. Once in Russia but you know that story but again this morning and I said I would answer when things returned to normal. I have a job to finish before I can indulge myself in my own happiness."

The smile that slowly creeps across Alexis' face is one he's never seen on his daughter. It gets wider and wider and then she squeals and launches herself at the couple, hugging them both.

"Dad, that was so damned mean of you. Elena, I'm sorry for the language but I didn't know it was you. I thought it was some slut he met at a book signing or something. You look just like you did in those pictures – oops!"

"Richard, beloved, don't be angry with her. She showed me the pictures my mother took and told me – she told me how you'd look at them – no more looking at pictures, Rick. You have the real thing now."

"Fine. At least she didn't see the naked ones – oof!" Two elbows to the stomach knocked the wind out of him.

"Richard – you have no naked photos of me because I never took off my clothes!" She was blushing furiously.

"Dad! That's just gross!"


	16. Chapter 16

Insomnia again. Sleep is just a question and a jab away but I'll dirt nap soon enough. See if you 7 readers can spot the game changers here.

OM

* * *

><p><em><span>Her Name Was Elena<span>_ by Oldest Man  
>Chapter16<p>

"I have been waiting for your call, Inspector. Report your status and progress."

"All initial information was correct. I have identified nine minor and two major connections. With Castle's 'help', I will locate the final participants and begin the operation."

"You have not been very discreet in your dealings with Richard Castle, my dear. Remember your assignment and our agreement. He is my friend and although he may not think so, he must and will continue to be after this has come to its conclusion."

"Da, Director. I will call you again when I have located the final participant and then – "

"Do not lose yourself in this, my dear. These operations swallow people whole. Revenge is a weak motivator and you must keep yourself emotionally distant. Keep him safe as you should yourself. Make contact with the standby team through the UN Mission. Your transfer to the Americans' Homeland Security will be announced soon. Make yourself available to them at all times."

She disconnected the call and turned off the shower. The cascade of water had masked the sound of her voice as she'd planned. She left the master bath and put her cell phone back on the charger and slipped into bed beside a slumbering Castle, molding herself to his back and falling asleep within seconds. His musky scent comforted her. She'd miss it.

* * *

><p>Beckett walked into the squad bay a few minutes after 8 and was surprised that she was the first of the team to put in an appearance. She grabbed her cup from her desk and walked into the break room to rinse it out and get her morning caffeine fix but stopped in the doorway.<p>

Ryan and Esposito were making nice with a brunette woman with her back to Kate. She didn't recognize her and wondered what she was doing here. Maybe she was from one of the other divisions and just came up for Castle's coffee. She cringed at the thought. _Castle's coffee. She missed him terribly but would never admit it except to herself._

Ryan saw her and gave her his best Irish smile of welcome and she couldn't help but return it.

"Beckett! Top o' the marnin' to ya." He often went 'Irish' on her. It was one of the things she really liked about him. He seemed unaffected by all the misery around him.

The brunette turned and smiled at Kate. "Good morning, Detective. I have become addicted to this brew. How I will miss it."

"El – Elena?"

"Yes, it is I. The blonde hair was not me at all. Now that I've completed my initial mission, I felt it was time to get back to being me."

Kate was stunned. If anything, the naturally dark hair, parted in the middle and allowed to fall naturally against her face, made her all the more exotic looking. Those shocking blue eyes seemed to be even bluer and the gene pool of invaders made themselves more evident in the almost almond-shaped eyes.

"Well, it certainly is a change. If you're done here, perhaps we could begin work on locating those remaining Interpol warrants?" '_The sooner you're done here, the faster you'll be gone.'_

"Yes, my time here is soon at an end. I will miss the camaraderie of your team, Kate. I will try and duplicate it in my own, although my dour comrades are boring drones compared to Esposito and your Kevin."

Ryan elbowed Esposito and grinned and Kate again felt a frisson of hope.

'_Her own team is back in Mother Russia. She's going home! I wonder if Castle knows his Little Miss is just a temporary fixture? Poor Rick. She's another woman who will tear at his heart.'_

* * *

><p>Kate and Elena spent the remainder of the morning trying to locate several Russian nationals with Interpol warrants without success. Elena was particularly frustrated.<p>

"Kate, I do not understand how someone can be in this country and have a job and a family and not have any government records. How is this possible?"

"It's called living 'off the grid'. No social security reports, you get your wages in cash, you pay for everything in cash, you borrow no money, have no credit cards, put utilities in someone else's name, it's very common, too common, really."

Her phone interrupted her explanation.

"Guys, got a body only three blocks from here. Lanie's been called and is on her way in from another scene. Elena, get your stuff, put on a vest and let's get moving. Esposito, Ryan, you guys take victim ID and do the canvassing. Elena and I will handle the crime scene interviews."

The victim was a well-dressed man in his middle 50s who was an apparent robbery victim. His wallet and watch were gone. The murderer had actually cut off his ring fingers to remove jewelry. Cause of death was obvious even without Lanie's expert opinion. There was a large gunshot wound in the center of the victim's forehead.

"We'll have to wait for prints to ID the victim. This is a very expensive suit for this neighborhood. And his shoes are Italian and probably cost more than I make in a month. Any thoughts?"

"Where is his necktie? A man this well-dressed would be incomplete without a necktie. Also, there are items in his trouser pockets that haven't been removed. If this were a true robbery, Kate, wouldn't the thief have emptied the pockets after being so desperate for money to cut off the fingers to remove rings?"

"Good points. We'll wait for Lanie to do her thing before we – " Gunshots sounded down the narrow street where Esposito and Ryan had gone just minutes before. Beckett called for backup and then ran down toward the sound of more shots.

"Elena, stay here. You don't have a vest. Wait for backup and point them in the right direction. Take my radio and call it in."

* * *

><p>Two patrol cars screamed up to the street entrance and Elena led the four uniformed officers toward where Beckett had disappeared. Someone else had called for backup.<p>

The four officers and Elena stumbled on Kevin Ryan lying against a dumpster. Esposito had called for backup and an ambulance. Ryan was holding a shirt against his upper bicep and waved the officers toward an open door yelling that 'Esposito and Beckett are already up there'. Elena told one of the officers to stay with Ryan and then led the remaining backup into the doorway.

Several more shots were heard and the officers moved single file up the narrow metal stairs to the second floor. Esposito was hugging the left wall while Beckett was against the right. They had already passed three apartments and were closing in cautiously on a fourth. A man stepped out from the fourth apartment and fired several shots at Esposito and Beckett returned fire but missed.

Beckett heard the officers clattering up the stairs with Elena in the lead and shook her head and motioned for Elena to get back. The man again stepped out into the hallway and fired shots at Beckett this time and all the officers returned fire but he slipped back into the apartment unharmed.

"There are three of them in the last apartment. Get someone on the ground to make sure they don't use the fire escape." Beckett was inching along the wall keeping her pistol pointed at the doorway the shooter was popping in and out of. Two of the backup cops followed Esposito's instructions and the remaining cop mimicked Esposito and hugged the left wall.

Elena felt naked without a vest but adrenalin kicked in and she was confident, almost cocky.

The shooter and his two accomplices weren't stupid, just desperate, and two of them slipped out onto the fire escape but didn't climb down. Instead they climbed over to the apartment next to theirs and forced open a window and crawled in. This put them between the officers in the hall and the main shooter putting the police in a deadly crossfire.

When the shooter stepped out and started firing it was a signal to the others who opened the door and stepped out firing at the police. Elena was behind them and shot one in the back but the other turned and fired, catching her just below the collarbone. The impact knocked her backwards down the narrow metal stairwell.

"Elena!" Kate had turned at the sound of the firing behind her, instinctively recognizing that the caliber of the pistols being fired weren't police issue. She fired at the second man just as Elena took him out. It was her last round and the receiver on her Glock locked back and she cursed as she fumbled for another magazine.

Esposito nailed the original shooter and turned to fire but the backup cop was masking any targets. Kate seated a round and fired, killing the last ambusher.

She reached for her radio but remembered she'd given it to Elena. _'God, what a mess. Castle's going to kill me if anything happened to his – '_

"Esposito, call it in. Two officers down, three perps down, two dead. Get an ambulance. Officer, cuff them and then follow procedure. I have to check on my partner." She handed the shaken unformed officer her cuffs and then went to check on Elena.

"Oh, no – "

* * *

><p>Manhattan South Medical Center<br>Emergency Room  
>4pm<p>

"I'm Richard Castle. Elena Antonenko was brought in by detectives from the 12th Precinct. She's a cop, too, and she'd been shot. Where is she?" He wasn't panicking – yet - but close to it.

Esposito had been waiting for him and grabbed him and led him to a waiting area. "She's in surgery and stable. Through and through just below the right collar bone. She tumbled down some stairs and has a concussion but that's it, I swear, Castle. Ryan's still being stitched up. Elena got first priority. Listen, Beckett's taking this hard so don't jump in her shit, okay? She told Elena to stay with Ryan but she didn't."

"She's as stubborn as Beckett is. Doesn't surprise me at all. Anyone else hurt? You okay?" He fixed Javier with a withering stare that dared him to lie to him.

"Just scared shitless. Man, they had us in a crossfire. Bunch of drugged out meth-heads. Your girl saved our bacon. We were dead meat."

"I'm glad you're okay. Beckett okay?" It was almost automatic.

"She's good. You should have come back, Castle. You should have explained things to us. Me and Ryan, we didn't understand. It was cold what she did, but don't turn your back on your friends. What happened at the freezer and then at the bomb, we didn't know. I guess I'm apologizing for getting in your face."

"S'okay, Espo. You didn't know and it was only important to me, y'know?

"Still, man, you should have kept in touch. You just disappeared on us. I know that the thing with the doc pissed you off – "

"She's free to do what she pleases. I just wasn't what pleased her. It's okay, Javier, just let it go, please?"

"You got it. Just keep in touch, okay?"

Castle nodded and then went to find coffee. He wanted something stronger but knew that getting drunk would have to wait until he knew Elena was awake and okay. He looked down at his shaking hands and clenched them into fists to stop the trembling.

"Here. You look like you could use it." Beckett was standing there looking very uncomfortable. It was the first time he'd seen her since he walked out of Montgomery's office. She looked – tired and worn out.

"Yeah. Thanks." He didn't look at her again. He examined the patterns on the Styrofoam cup with great interest. He didn't want to deal with her. She'd made her choice.

"Listen, I'm sorry about Elena. She was told to – "

"Yeah. Esposito filled me in. She's Russian. Stubborn. Thinks she's immortal and invincible. It's genetic. Thanks for looking out for her. This is – I need some air. Thanks for the coffee." He walked away as fast as he could. He didn't want to deal with Beckett right now. He walked out of the ER entrance and watched the cars go by, trying not to think of anything at all.

'_Why am I attracted to women with little or no sense of self-preservation? Why weren't they wearing vests? I have to call her father. He should know. She'll probably kill me since they're 'estranged' but I'd want to know if something happened to Alexis even if she hated me the way she seems to hate her father. Gotta find a number somewhere – "_

"Castle, the surgeon's finished and he said she's going to be fine, just sore. She lost some blood on the scene and more in the OR so they're looking for blood donors."

"I'm A+ and we're compatible. I gave her two units in Russia when she had her surgery. Where do I go?"

The lab tech chatted amiably with Castle and then frowned. "You said you gave her two units in Russia? Are you absolutely sure? Your blood types are incompatible, Mr. Castle."

"I gave one unit, I think 450ml – the Reds were on metric even then – in a direct transfusion then two weeks later I did a replacement donation."

"Um, your friend is AB- , we can't use your blood. Sorry."

"Wait! Check again, please! I know what I know. I watched the blood go from my arm to hers. No mistake then. Please – recheck it."

A few minutes later the lab tech came in with a doctor. "Mr. Castle, Ms. Antonenko is AB-, you're A+. I don't know what happened in Russia but trust me, she would have been in trouble with a direct transfusion."

Castle's mind was racing. _'Incompatible blood types are a natural fact. I gave her blood back in '95. I watched it flow into her. I stayed with her for four hours afterwards.' _

While Castle sat in the waiting area and mulled over the facts presented to him, Beckett came in and sat down beside him. "Hey, don't worry. Ryan's O- and he gave her a good pint of Irish Red. She'll be fine, Castle. Here. The doctor gave these to me but you should hang on to them for her. She'll be blind without them." She handed him a generic contact lens case labeled 'L' and 'R' and 'Antonenko surgery' with a black sharpie.

"Thank Ryan for me. Tell him he's got a steak dinner for him and his sweetie courtesy of Rick Castle. And anything else he needs." He was grateful to Ryan and he figured a couple of hundred would either go for steaks or, knowing Ryan, into the bank for the honeymoon.

"Speaking of Ryan, remind him, please, to consider the Hampton House his for the honeymoon or even just a few nights. They'll have everything they'll need. You and your doctor are free to use it, too. Espo and Lanie, too. Roy may use it as a 'fishing base' but he's so damned stubborn."

"I don't think the 'doctor' and I will be seeing much of each other. Certainly not at the Hamptons."

"He's off saving the world again? Gotta admire that, Detective. You two are a lot alike. Giving of yourselves without thought, for something bigger than yourselves. Makes writing books seem like a trivial waste of time in comparison."

He kept turning the contact lens case over and over in his hands for something to do. His mind was ignoring the scent of cherries and the hand she'd placed on his forearm to comfort him when she realized how shaken he was.

"Well, you should go in and see her. I have a huge stack of paperwork to get done. Tell her I said 'Thanks and get back to work', okay?"

He nodded and she walked off but stopped after a few steps.

"I broke up with Josh right after you quit coming around, Rick. He wasn't what I was looking for. I'd overlooked so much in our relationship but I just was blind. I'm sorry. This isn't the right time – "

She walked out of the ER feeling better now that she'd confessed how she'd overlooked what was right in front of her in their relationship. She felt like she'd left a door open for future conversations.

'_Beckett must have really loved him to have 'overlooked so much' stuff in their relationship. I guess the travel really put a damper on intimacy and just getting to know each other. Sad. She overlooked a lot more than Josh's travels. She overlooked me.'_

"Mr. Castle, Ms. Antonenko is asking for you. Follow me, please."


	17. Chapter 17

Been a while and readers are down to 105

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter17

The nurse led Castle to a private room and patted him on the back. "She's going to be just fine in a few weeks. She's very lucky – in more ways than one." She smiled and her eyes twinkled making the late 50 year old seem much younger.

He didn't remember moving but suddenly he was leaning over and kissing her gently. Their eyes met when he broke off the kiss and his heart sank. Her eyes were green, smoky jade green.

She smiled shyly and ran a hand across his cheek and rested it there. "I'm sorry, my love. I have put you through such worry and pain. Please forgive me, Rick. It comes with the job and I was not wearing a vest. I am sorry. Are Kate and the others okay? Ryan! How is Kevin?"

"You're forgiven. Ryan's stitched up and probably home with his Jenny. Beckett and Esposito are fine, shook up but fine – and very grateful. I'm fine, too, Elena. I was so scared when I got the call from Beckett. I don't want a call like that ever again, understand me?"

"Rick, I am a cop. It is what I do. It is in the blood like writing is in yours. Please don't ask me to give up my profession. I will, of course, if it means the difference in being 'us' or being alone again. But please don't make me choose."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Not in a million years. You're a cop. I'm a writer. It's our fate, right, Little Miss?"

"Da, Richard. And we cannot change our fates. Come lie down beside me and tell me a story, any story, to take my mind off today. I killed a man, Rick, without even thinking about it. He was going to kill Kate and I could not allow that."

"You were brave and did the right thing. Always the right thing. You made the right choice in Riga and again at the dacha the night your mother almost caught us, remember? Out under the pear trees?" He forced a laugh and waited.

"I'd almost forgotten Riga and the pear trees. We almost did get caught."

"Well, sleep now. I have to check on Alexis. I'll be a few minutes, no more, honey. You just lie back and rest." He kissed her lovingly and then walked out into the corridor and out of the hospital. He had an important call to make.

There were no pear trees at the dacha and they'd never been to Riga together.

* * *

><p>Castle caught a cab to the loft and went directly to his study. He pulled up a corner of the carpet and folded it back revealing a floor safe. He dialed the combination and pulled up the plug-like door unit and set it aside. He reached in and took out a leather notebook and then sat at his desk.<p>

Castle noted the time and date and shifted the ruler to the left and noted the line of numbers that appeared beneath it.

He dialed the 10-digit number and waited. And waited. It rang and rang and finally the telephone company recording announced that the number had been disconnected and to call directory assistance for help. The number given was not the AT&T number.

He jotted down the number and then put the notebook back in the safe and removed a leather zippered case and set it on the desk and then replaced the plug and reset the combination. He replaced the carpet and stepped all over the edges until he felt comfortable that no one could see where it had been moved.

He dialed the 'information' number and it rang twice and was answered in the standard format: _Thank you for calling. The office is closed. Leave a message and your telephone number. Do not leave your name._

"Contact report, Russian female, approximately 33, green eyes, dark brown or auburn hair, 5'9'', Elena Tatiana Antonenko, possibly daughter of the Director of _Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii. _First contact 4 months ago under alias Katya Karpov. Need contact number for Director ASAP._"_

He left his contact number and a code for his status. The agency would take care of the rest. Now all he had to do was wait. He didn't expect a quick response. He'd been on the 'inactive rolls' for more than a decade.

He was surprised. The call came only 40 minutes later. Someone was awake and aware at the Puzzle Palace.

"I am returning your call. State your name, occupation and current address when you hear the chime."

Castle sighed and complied when he heard the chime. Such melodrama for a simple phone number.

"Castle, your inquiry and request have been shunted to me. Interrogative: Why do you require the number for the Director of the _Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii."_

"You have no need to know. I need that number. Alexsandr Bortnikov and I go back a long way. The number, please. You guys owe me. Consider this a down payment."

The caller answered him with a grunt. He hated dealing with ex-agents or assets. Especially assets like this Castle. He'd reviewed Castle's file and had been impressed. Not many people with his level of employment were allowed to just walk away. The notation on the file cautioned that 'asset is not to be utilized again without the expressed written permission of the Secretary of State or of Commerce'. That made him a VIP of sorts.

"Okay. Hang up and you'll receive a call within 30 seconds. Do not answer the call. It will go to voicemail. Add 3 to each odd number and subtract 1 from each even number. Do not borrow or carry. Good luck. Keep in touch from now on. Consider this an activation notification, Mr. Castle."

Castle waited and 20 seconds after disconnecting, his phone rang and he let it go to voicemail. He waited five minutes and then checked his voicemail. A woman's sultry voice asked him to call her and reminded him of his promise to bring a bottle of Bernkastler Doktor 1988 to the party. She left him a call-back number and hung up.

He looked at the time, added hours for the time difference and thought 'fuck him, it's time to get an early start on his day' and did the math while dialing the number.

_[The following conversation is in Russian but I'm too lazy to do the Cyrillic set up and cutting and pasting is a pain. Live with it. Use your imaginations. Suspend your vapid belief system.]_

"Do you know what time it is?" A grumbling, older Alexsandr Bortnikov than Rick remembered, answered the phone.

"Yeah, in New York it's half past the hour. So, Alexsandr, how is dear Elena these days?" He could barely control his sarcasm.

"Castle? Richard Castle? My word, how many years has it been? How are you, my dear friend? And why did you kill off Derrick Storm?"

"Why did you send a woman to contact me, seduce me and purport to be Elena Tatiana, my – _old_ – friend?"

There was a sigh on the other end of the conversation. "She told you, did she? I warned her that she would lose herself in this assignment and that she should leave you immediately. Love! Bah!"

"She was shot in the line of duty, Alexsandr, and I only discovered her deception when our bloodtypes failed to be compatible and when her extended-wear contact lenses had to be removed prior to surgery."

"We could not anticipate that, could we, Richard? That she would need a blood exchange and that you would be a donor? She was as close a match as I could find. Sometimes Katya was more of a daughter to me than Elena Tatiana."

"Alexsandr, Elena, where is she?" He was afraid to ask and afraid to hear the answer.

"She's with her sainted mother, Richard. I am sorry. The Brodsky Troika first took my wife and then my daughter. Do not blame Ekaterina Ilyana Karpov for deceiving you. She had her orders. If it makes a difference, she loves you, Richard, and wants to stay with you when her mission is over. I swear on the memories of my wife and daughter."

"We will need the files, everything you have on Brodsky Troika. I'm sure you can get them to Elena in – I mean – Ekaterina Ilyana – in the usual manner? Nothing held back, my old friend. I have assets that will be of invaluable assistance in completing her mission."

"So, you are still active, no? I thought you told Elena that you were through with the shadow world? Did you lie to her?"

"No. I've been living 'in the sun' since I left her. Tonight is the exception. Just this once. We will not speak again unless you've lied to me – again. You should have told me about Elena. You should have told me."

He hung up and walked to the kitchen and burned the note he'd used to record the telephone number and then flushed the ashes down the drain. Some lessons are never forgotten.

* * *

><p>Manhattan South Medical Center<p>

It was almost 10pm before he returned to the hospital. She'd been asleep the whole time and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He'd packed them a bag. A sleep shirt and underwear and toiletries for her and a change of clothes, sweats and a t-shirt, for him. He left the zippered leather case in the bottom of the bag. He planned on using it in the morning.

He set her contact lens case on the wheeled tray stand. Deep in thought, he spun the case around with his finger, trying to make the right decision for once in his life.

Castle leaned over and kissed her lips softly and she smiled and murmured in her sleep and reached over for him and frowned when she felt the cold sheets. She struggled to wake up.

"Rick? Where are you?" She was still fuzzy from the anesthetic and he used it to his advantage to lull her back to sleep.

"Right here, Elena. I just got up to get some coffee. Go back to sleep, baby. We'll talk in the morning." He leaned over and whispered that he loved her, regardless of her name and he thought he saw her frown.

Castle was almost asleep in the chair when his cell vibrated in his pocket indicating a text message. He pulled the phone out and saw it was from Beckett.

**Everything OK?**

He texted her back a short and cryptic message.

**No, not really.  
><strong>**Can we talk tomorrow  
><strong>**In the morning?**

Her response was almost instantaneous.

**Yes! Breakfast?**

His response was equally as fast and equally as cryptic as the first.

**No. Precinct Range**  
><strong>8am<strong>  
><strong>Go to sleep, KB<strong>

He turned his phone off and then tried to get comfortable in a chair that was meant to torture men of his stature. He was almost asleep again when Elena cried out and he was by her side before being fully awake.

"Rick, it hurts bad. Get a nurse. Something is wrong!"

He ran out and returned with a nurse in seconds. He hovered over her as the nurse ran her vitals and then explained that she'd somehow put a kink in the IV that was providing her pain meds and that someone hadn't set the alarm on the control unit to advise the nurses.

"Better, Elena? You rolled over on your IV and cut off your pain meds, that's all. Can you slip over just a bit and let me lie down beside you and keep you from doing it again. Just think of me as a big pillow."

"Thank you. I was going to ask you to do it anyways. I will miss you, Rick, when you cast me out, throw me under the bus, kick me to the curb. But I will always love you."

"You worry too much, Katya. I spoke with your boss, my old friend, the Director. I know everything and it changes nothing between us. Sleep, now. I have a meeting in the morning but I'll be back to keep you company right after."

"Rick, I was going to tell you soon. I promise. The time was never right. If you had only come back to Montauk all this could have been avoided and you would still have your Elena in your heart."

"I have you and you mean more to me. Sleep. We'll talk in the morning. Nothing has changed between us, not really. Don't worry. Get well. We have wolves to hunt, my love."

'_You're in way over your head, Ricky-boy. You're not 25 and you're way the hell out of shape and you have no idea what you're doing. Once again you're letting your heart tell you what to do instead of your brain.'_

He ignored the voice in his head. The same voice had cautioned patience in dealing with Beckett and had been wrong then and he hoped it was wrong again.

He was suddenly very tired. Tomorrow was another day.


	18. Chapter 18

_Her Name Was Elena_ by Oldest Man

Chapter 18

Castle woke at the first sound of someone entering the room. A nurse looked at him and shook her head in disapproval at his sleeping arrangements but said nothing.

He glanced at his Patek Philippe chronometer and frowned. He would have to really hustle to get everything done before meeting Beckett at the Precinct.

"Sweetheart, wake up for a second, please? I have to go and you're all over me and I don't want to risk hurting you. You have to move, baby."

"No. Don't go. You are so comfortable. My big American teddy bear. Mmm, you are warm, too."

"Elena Tatiana, I have a meeting and first I have to swing by the loft and change. I've brought you a sleep shirt or two and your toiletries. Your contact lenses are on the tray table. Put them in before you get inquisitive visitors."

She wasn't showing any indication of moving, just sighing and burrowing in further so he dropped the hammer, hard.

"Ekaterina Ilyana Karpov, you have an identity to maintain. Wake up, put in the contacts and clean yourself up. I'll be back later." That did it.

"Help me sit up, please, and hand me the case. I want to talk, to explain – "

He stopped her with a kiss and then smiled. "Nothing has changed between us. We are still 'us' unless you wish it to change. I have to go."

"Rick! Please don't go! I love you!"

"Shhh, I have a meeting, my drugged-up Russian princess. I'll be back soon. Put in the lenses and sleep. The entire 12th will be here soon to make sure you don't need a damned thing. It is the way over here. Cops look after each other. "

* * *

><p>12th Precinct<br>Indoor Shooting Range  
>7:15am<p>

"Hey, Castle! Long time-no see. Here for another shooting match with Detective Beckett?"

"Something like that. I need silhouettes for 5-10 meters, man-sized, maybe 4 or 5. Got to practice if I'm going to beat her this time." He forced a grin and waited for his targets.

"Why so many? You only hit the silhouette 3 times the last time. Waste not, want not."

"I've improved. Practice makes perfect, right? I need to practice. Can I steal a couple of boxes of 9mm, too?"

He took the targets, ammo and his zipped bag to a shooting lane and took out his pistol. It had been 15 years since it had been fired but he had maintained it on a bi-weekly basis religiously.

He loaded 20 rounds into each of 3 magazines that he had and then went through a dry-fire exercise using both one and two hands. Satisfied that he was again comfortable with the grip and weight of the weapon, he slapped the first magazine into place and pulled back on the receiver and seated a 9mm round and double-checked the safety.

He checked the line of shooting positions to ensure he could use the two on either side of his lane and then mounted 3 silhouettes, one on each lane. He heard the range officer ask what he was doing and he turned and waved, ignoring the question. He sent the left hand lane target out 10 meters and then the right lane out 10 meters but sent his lane's target out somewhat closer.

"Castle, that's not authorized on this – "

The first 3-round burst hit the left-hand silhouette dead center and he smiled. He fired another two bursts at the closest target and then fired two bursts of 3 rounds at the right-hand target. The right-hand target had a very poor and uneven shot grouping and he cursed. His right side was always his weakest for some reason.

"Damn it, Castle, automatic weapons are not authorized on my range. Stand down!"

There were 3 or 4 officers who'd come in to practice and now were standing behind him, quietly watching. No one spoke.

He changed magazines and put on a shooting glove on his left hand and then folded down a collapsed handgrip that had nestled under the barrel and receiver.

He fired on full auto, left to right, after pushing the modified lever to release the sear pin and then safed the weapon and set it down. He could barely see through the tears.

Elena was dead.

A soft voice followed by a softer hand touched him.

"Castle? Rick, what's wrong?"

Beckett had arrived 15 minutes early for their meeting, just in time to witness the shredding of the three silhouettes. One had been cut in half, the center one had a ragged hole in the center while the right one was hanging, torn almost in half.

"Elena's dead, Kate. She's dead." He turned and swept her into an embrace mostly to hide his tears but also because he needed someone to ground him.

"Oh, Rick, I'm so sorry. What happened? She was fine when we left. When – "

"Not that woman in the hospital, Kate. The real Elena Tatiana Antonenko. She's been dead for years and he never told me. Instead, he sent me a copy. I found out last night. She's not Elena, Beckett. Elena's dead."

The range officer pushed his way through the small crowd and made his presence known.

"I have to confiscate that weapon, Mr. Castle. It's illegal to possess and you will probably face a weapons charge if you don't hand it over and tell me where you got it."

Castle laughed and gently pushed Beckett away from him and faced the range officer.

"It's not illegal for me. I got it in Italy when I worked with the Carabinieri. It's sanctioned by the Departments of State and Commerce and the damned ATF. I have a federal license and permit. Touch it and I'll break your face."

His tone was light like the 'old Castle' tag-along but the look on his face was anything but.

"Castle, give him the weapon. I'll make sure – "

He turned and took out a leather folder from the zipper case and handed it to Beckett and glared at her, defying her to cross him.

"That's my authorization, permit and license, Detective Beckett." He looked at the range officer and then turned and policed up his brass and removed the magazine from the pistol and ejected the unfired cartridge. He put the remaining unfired magazine into the pistol.

"Castle, it says here that you're – "

"Not now. It's why I wanted to talk with you. I'm sorry about before. Call it the heat of the moment. Won't happen again, I promise. Got the old emotions back under control. Sorry if I embarrassed you, Beckett. Won't happen again, I assure you."

He took the leather folder from her and flipped it shut with practiced ease and clipped it on his belt. He pulled a complicated-looking holster from the bag and slipped the Beretta 93R into it and clipped it onto his belt and then put his jacket back on.

"Castle, we will have that talk _now_. We'll use the interrogation room on the 4th floor, okay?" The 4th floor was the Homicide Squad's floor and she knew he'd feel comfortable there.

"At least the coffee's good."

* * *

><p>12th Precinct<br>Interrogation Room B  
>8:45am<p>

"Okay, Castle, start talking. And don't use coffee as an excuse. You'll get a cup if and when I'm satisfied with your explanation. Let's start with that pistol of yours."

She had to distance herself emotionally from him. The hug, the desperate embrace he'd swept her up into, had been unexpected but so welcome. She could still feel the sense of comfort and safety she felt in his arms.

"I traveled a great deal in the US on book tours when my first novel went best-seller. My publisher wanted to maximize sales so he sent me to Europe to hawk the book and meet people, you know, stir up a buzz."

"Go on, please. The gun – "

"My tale, Beckett, my pace. How about we compromise. You go get us two coffees and I'll use the time to organize my story and make it easier to tell. I really have to get back to the hospital."

"No deal. Talk. Now. No incentives. The gun, Castle. Explain the Beretta." She watched his eyes for any of the tell tales of deception but he was being honest.

"Sheesh. Talk about poor community relations? Fine. I traveled a great deal and I met some people and made friends, contacts, and some of them were in government while others were in the business or in businesses that were of interest to our government."

"Go on, Castle. This is all so relevant to how you came about owning that cannon on your hip." Her voice was laced with sarcasm. A pissed-off Beckett was formidable and intimidating. She wanted him intimidated. Hell, she wanted him – period. He looked different and yet the same.

"When I got back from my first European book tour I was 'met' by some nice people from the State Department who asked for a few minutes of my time. They let me go sometime late the next day after draining my brain of all I could remember about who I'd met, what we discussed, future plans to reconnect, all economic stuff."

"Beckett, you have to understand. I had no money back then. It was my first book and I was desperate to get it distributed to as many markets as possible. My publisher had advanced a pittance since it was my first novel and they weren't sure it was not a flash-in-the-pan thing. I borrowed my ass off to make the next European trip. The publisher said I was 'on my own'."

"Okay, then what?" She was listening intently, looking at his facial features, looking for lies.

"I got a call late one afternoon offering me a free-ride if I wanted to meet some publishers in Eastern Europe who wanted to publish my book. Hell, yeah, I wanted it. I said 'yes' and got tickets the next day along with a new passport and a few thousand dollars in 'spending money' and a government credit card.

I toured the Balkans, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, all former Soviet client states. I made deals, got my book translated and published and it sold. They were hungry for fiction and they liked my stuff."

"When I got back to the US I was met by the same nice guys and offered a deal – and a job – to do what I had to do anyways – get my books published. I had two out by then and one more on the burners being edited. I took the deal and never looked back."

"That went on until Meredith got pregnant. I wanted out. I had to get out. I had a kid to raise. The guys I'd dealt with were really nice about it but basically said if I wanted to quit, they'd make life 'interesting' for me, keep Meredith from working, dig up tax problems, hell, _invent_ problems."

"So, you kept doing it?" She knew how government worked even on the municipal level. Someone like Castle 'heard' things no one else would and she could understand the government's position, just not its method.

"Yes – and no. Have you never wondered why I don't take book tours out of the US? Why I walked away from a 3-book deal to do the James Bond thing? I got a friend to look at the 'contract' with the 'government' and she found a loophole. As long as I didn't leave the US and go on tour, they had to leave me alone. I was an 'asset' not an 'agent' and I only had to work for them if I went abroad. So I've stayed home."

It wasn't the entire truth but he hoped it was enough to satisfy Beckett.

"The Beretta, Castle. Explain the Beretta."

"Detective, I can't tell you about that without clearance from the government. It's mine, assigned to me, signed for by me, accounted for by me, and used by me from time to time outside the Continental US. You want more than that, you better have more in your hand that a cup of coffee."

"Bullshit! You're no more a government agent than I am. I'm confiscating that weapon and you're going to jail until this is cleared up."

"Wanna bet, Beckett? One call, that's all it will take. I'll make the call and Roy Montgomery will be in this room within 10 minutes and I'll be on my way back to the hospital minus my best friend."

He keyed in a number and put it on speaker phone.

"What is it now, Castle? Whose number do you need now?"

"Thanks for breaking all the rules they taught us in our abbreviated tour of the Farm and Quantico, dickhead. I'm under arrest for a firearms violation. Seems the powers that be don't believe my credentials are real or that you guys – well – that you guys are higher up the food chain than a NYPD homicide detective."

"Jesus, Rick, you didn't kill anyone did ya? Man, who? This is going to really put you in the hole. You're going to owe them active time, no excuses. Sure sucks to be you. Okay, who did you kill and who do I have to call?"

Castle hoped they were video taping his 'interview' because the look on Beckett's face was priceless.

"The Commissioner for starters. Probably the only call you'll have to make. And I haven't killed anyone – yet."

"No more cowboying on your own, Castle. It says right here that only the Secretary herself or the asshole from Commerce can activate you. I'm sure they can't wait."

"They can't do a damn thing so long as I don't leave the good ol' US of A. Idle threat. Make the call. I have to see someone and she's in the hospital alone and probably scared to death."

A few minutes later Roy Montgomery had walked into the interrogation room and whispered something in Kate's ear that made the color drain from her face and she pushed the holstered weapon across the table to Castle who was looking at his fingertips and avoiding their eyes.

"Okay, Castle. It seems that someone 'higher up the food chain' made that call you warned me about and now you're free to go."

Castle got on the elevator and tried desperately not to look at Beckett. She looked defeated and so forlorn that it was all he could do not to step back off the elevator and give her a much-needed hug.

She stepped on the elevator instead and when they were between floors she pulled the emergency stop button.

"Don't freak out, Castle. I just have to do this. Please, don't hate me."

She reached over and grabbed the lapels of his sport coat and pulled him to her and smashed her lips against his all the while grinding herself against him and moaning into the kiss.

She broke off the kiss and stepped back. She pushed in the emergency button and the two rode to the ground floor in tense silence. "Sorry. Heat of the moment. Now I know. I had to know. Sorry. See ya 'round, Rick."

The elevator door opened but neither moved until finally Castle sighed and then walked out saying "Always, Kate" and disappeared from sight.


	19. Chapter 19

Another chapter in what has been called the most despised story in FF. Tough.

* * *

><p><em><span>Her Name Was Elena<span>_ by Oldest Man  
>Chapter19<p>

Manhattan South Medical Center

Castle waited in the corridor away from her room and allowed her to enjoy her visitors. He had no sudden urge to spend time with his former friends from the 12th Precinct. He didn't want to taint them with whatever publicity his actions might bring.

After a while, he went to find a cup of coffee. Visiting hours were almost over and then he'd have her all to himself.

He had rotten luck. Esposito and Lanie had arrived just as Ryan and some uniforms left. They'd seen him lingering down the hallway and Esposito took the large bouquet of fresh flowers from Lanie and walked into the room. Lanie had other plans.

"Castle, why aren't you in there with Elena? Why are you standing out here instead of talking with all of your friends? Not jealous of all the guys who've shown up, are you?"

"I wanted her to experience what being a wounded American cop is like. She told me in that in Russia they hide you away like you've done something wrong. I just wanted her to have her moments in the sun, that's all."

"That's so sweet, Castle." Her syrupy tone should have alerted him but he was tired from his long day fighting the bureaucracy.

"Ow! Apples, apples!" Lanie had grabbed his ear and was dragging him over to the door. She released him and then shoved him not so gently inside and went over and sat on Esposito's lap since only one other chair was free.

Katya looked at him curiously. She wanted to know where he'd been all day and why he hadn't returned any of her texts but couldn't ask because of her visitors. She missed him and was afraid he'd reconsidered his feelings for her because of her deception.

"So how does it feel to be a shot cop in America?" He'd seen the flowers and the cards and the stuffed animals and knew he'd made the right decision to stay away.

"I do not feel like I've done anything wrong – not like in Russia. I am not locked up in a closed room with no visitors. Here it is almost a pleasure to be shot."

"Don't make a habit of it, sweetheart. I can afford to buy anything you want so don't think you have to get hurt to get attention or things. I don't like hospitals."

Lanie was impressed with the way the two were so in synch with each other.

"So, Castle, what are you going to do when Elena heads on back to Russia?"

"If she doesn't want to stay here with me – "

"Rick, I told you I would stay if I am able. You – "

"Hush. If she doesn't want to stay here with me or if she can't, I'll just sell everything and follow her to Mother Russia. It's not 1950, y'know? There aren't laws against marrying foreigners and I do have connections – her old man's the head of the KGB over there."

"Castle, there in no more of KGB. You capitalists live in fear of something that is gone. Foolish man. And I have already said that I _want_ to stay with you but I do have a position and my duty."

Lanie marveled at the degree of Castle's commitment to Elena. She knew he wasn't kidding about following her.

_'All Beckett's hopes just blew away in the breeze. If she doesn't stay, he'll follow her.'_

They chatted amiably for 15 minutes and then Lanie nudged Javier when she saw the Russian stifling a yawn.

"We're heading out. Remember, Elena, we're only a phone call away if you need anything or just want to talk or if you need help with lover boy."

"I can handle Rick but it's nice to know I have friends I can call when I feel like shooting the wind."

"Um, Elena, it's shooting the breeze. Anyhow, I'm glad you're feeling better." They left and Lanie gave Rick a look that said 'she's all yours' as she left.

The look Katya gave Rick after he closed the room door and they were finally alone spoke volumes. _Where have you been? I've missed you. I need you. I love you. I'll always miss you and need you and love you until you're with me._

"You're being sprung from Durance Vile in a few days if all goes well and I thought we'd head out to the Island and maybe, when you feel up to it, we can see just how damned fast the Avanti can go."

"I think I'd rather lounge around in your huge bed and just be held by you. You were right, Rick. It was a stupid thing I did. I got caught up in the heat of the chase and – and I'm sorry I worried you. Now, do not punish me any longer. Take off your shoes and lie down and tell me lies so that I may sleep. I want my strong American teddy bear to curl up around."

He kicked off his shoes and took off his jacket and knew he'd really screwed up. He'd forgotten the Beretta and her eyes widened when she saw it holstered on his belt.

"What are you doing, Rick, with that thing on your belt? What have you done? You promised me – "

"I promised to love you and protect you. How can I protect you? Write threats on paper and ball them up and throw them**_ really hard_** at the wolves? No. We do this together or not at all. Now, move your scrawny Russki butt over and give me room, wench."

* * *

><p>Five hours later<p>

He couldn't breath. The fear rose up in his throat like vomit and he just knew he was going to die. He could almost write the obituary himself in those few seconds before he felt the bullet tear through his chest.

'Hack writer dies in gangland shootout between Italian cops and Mafia hoods while promoting failed novel.'

He went through the steps in preparation to fire his new Beretta as they'd been drilled into him at the Carabinieri Range: Inhale, exhale part way and hold it, sight in on target, squeeze the trigger, re-establish a sight picture and repeat until he's dead or you are.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out into the aisle formed by the packing crates of embargoed goods on their way to markets in restricted countries and tried to fight his way out with his information. Maybe this time the Carabinieri would arrive on time for a change. Damned Italians weren't on time for anything.

He was changing magazines and kept dropping the new one, huddled back in his fortress of crates when a shadow blocked the light and he saw the muzzle flash.

"Rick, wake up. It's just a dream. Rick – " She been awakened by his thrashing around in his dream but hadn't been able to wake him at first.

"Okay, I'm awake." He was still trembling from the dream of his first near-death experience. It had been years since he'd had that particular dream and now of all the times and places…

"Rick, let me help you…" She knew he needed to separate himself from the nightmare, apparently a bad one given the tremors that still ran through his body and the fear-sweat that soaked his hair and face.

"I need to use the bathroom, splash some water on my face. I'll be alright. Really. I just couldn't wake up this time. Haven't had that dream in a while. I'll be right back, honey. Go back to sleep."

He left the bathroom and sat in the visitor's chair. Katya swung her legs over the edge of the bed and reached for him to steady her as she tried to sit on the bed and talk to him.

"Damned tubes!" She'd snagged an IV line and almost pulled it out. "Castle, sit beside me if you will not return to bed. We will talk out your nightmare, yes? Come. Sit, Rick."

He sat beside her, an arm around her shoulders to give her support, and he blurted out the bare bones of his nightmare. As usual, she was the more pragmatic of the two of them.

"You went in search of embargoed goods going to Iraq and Iran. The Mafia had a warehouse full of them awaiting a freighter in Napoli (she used the Italian name) and you found them. Before the police arrived, the Mafia men returned to load the crates and found you and you got in a gunfight. The Italian police came and arrested them and took you to a hospital. They threw you out of the country but gave you this monstrous pistol as a 'gift'."

"Yeah. That's it in a nutshell, Katya. I almost pissed myself, I was so scared."

"You delayed them until the Carabinieri arrived, no? You were a hero, no?"

"No. I was just unlucky enough to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Story of my life, Katya."

"Well, you are my hero, Castle. Now, to hell with decorum, crawl under the sheets with me and hold me until the evil nurse throws you out with her 'tsk tsk tsking'. If we were in Russia, no one would know if I had my lover in my bed. No one would care."

She wrapped herself around him, careful of her IV, and listened to the steady beating of his heart. He fell back to sleep and she waited until she was sure of it before closing her own eyes.

* * *

><p>"Tsk tsk tsk. Mr. Castle, this is not some sleazy hotel where you and your woman can conduct yourselves in such a – "<p>

"Be quiet! He had a bad night but I had a wonderful night thanks to being so close with him. I had no nightmares and I think I want to leave this place today. Go and make it so. Yes, I wish to leave today."

"Your doctor will never allow it. It's not – "

"I am a citizen of the Russian Federation and a Senior Inspector of the Moscow Metropolitan Police Bureau. Do not presume to tell me what is allowed. Now, go do your bureaucratic stamping and arrange my papers so that I may leave. I am going to get better faster at my lover's dacha in The Hamptons."

"Sorry, nurse, but she's always cranky in the morning before she gets her third cup of coffee. She's staying," giving Katya a look that said 'you're hurt and you're staying right here', "so there's no need to worry about an international incident. You are right, ma'am, this arrangement is totally unacceptable and I shall endeavor to restrain her baser instincts."

With a look of gratitude directed to Castle and one of annoyance at Katya and with a 'Humph!' the nurse left them to sort out their differences.

"No! I wish to leave this place. I – "

"If you leave, you'd better find a hotel that changes bandages because you're not coming home with me. Your wound has not begun healing, you need an IV and you also need your pain meds. Be patient. In a few days, if your condition improves, I'll spring you and we'll go to The Hampton house but not one day sooner."

"But Rick…" She made her time-tested calf eyes at him but was surprised when he simply laughed at her. "I am the master of that move so I'm immune to it. I have errands to run and preparations to make before we can live in The Hamptons. You, my Russian lovely, need to rest, sleep, and quit threatening to wage WW3 on the nursing staff."

He dressed efficiently and then kissed her soundly and left, promising to return and bring her 'decent food and drink'.

She sulked but slept after realizing that her Teddy Bear was right: she needed her pain meds and her IV was a convenient means of getting them. Taking out one of his older novels, she began to read about the adventures of Derrick Storm. She wondered how much of Castle's early adventures were the basis for some of the antics of Castle's fictional hero.

* * *

><p>12th Precinct<p>

"So Castle was some kind of secret agent for the State Department? That's wild, Kate. Maybe some of his books are written with him in mind? I mean, he didn't have a shadow when he wrote those Derrick Storm novels, did he?"

Kate snickered at Lanie but then stopped. Castle did research on all his books. The locales, the characters, the events, all had been painstakingly taken from recent history and events.

_'I think I have a new research project: find out how much of Castle's writings dovetail with Castle's travels. Might prove interesting and informative and give me an insight into how he works and how to work him. I will not give up the one man who keeps me honest and sharp and makes me a better woman to some Russian hussy with a bigger gun.'_


End file.
